TABLE 1.

The role of the laboratory system in meeting the objectives of the World Health Organization global action plan on antimicrobial resistance.

Strategic objectives	Clinical functions	Public health functions
Improve awareness and understanding of antimicrobial resistance through effective communication, education and training	Adequate training on resistance for antimicrobial prescribers and other health professionals. Patient education to reduce demand for unnecessary antimicrobials and adherence to essential regimen.	Updated reports on resistance to Health ministries and policy makers. Inform media and all stakeholders on AMR issues. Communicate the threat that non-therapeutic use of antimicrobials poses for resistance.
Strengthen the knowledge and evidence base through surveillance and research	Identify aetiology of human and animal infections. Monitor efficacy of antibacterial treatment. Communicate susceptibility testing results to clinicians. Pilot and then implement new technologies that could increase the access and speed of testing or reduce its cost.	Support research to develop point-of-care assays for the rapid diagnostic of bacterial infections. Implement quality assurance for susceptibility testing. Develop strategies for AMR surveillance at the human-animal and the human-ecosystem interface. Develop and implement national AMR laboratory based-surveillance plans.
Reduce the incidence of infection through effective sanitation, hygiene and infection prevention measures	Support infection control by identifying and segregating patients infected by resistant pathogens. Permit source-tracking for infections.	Promote prompt effective antimicrobial therapy so that pathogens have fewer opportunities for transmission. Prevent epidemics through early outbreak identification and improved management and containment. Provide laboratory support for assessing risk in health systems, for water supplies, in agricultural settings and for food evaluations.
Optimise the use of antimicrobial medicines in human and animal health	Allow for broad-spectrum regimen to be replaced with narrow spectrum drugs, thereby reducing the risk of antibiotic-associated infections.	Promote the application of surveillance data to national and regional drug policy.
Develop the economic case for sustainable investment that takes account of the needs of all countries, and increase investment in new medicines, diagnostic tools, vaccines and other interventions	Reduce drug costs by allowing the cheapest effective drug to be selected rationally.	Allow the true cost of resistance to be computed and tracked. Provide economic evidence to support the replacement of antimicrobial drug use with vaccine and other preventive strategies.

AMR, antimicrobial resistance.