WHO AWaRe Guidance

The World Health Organization AWaRe Antibiotic book is a new gold standard resource to help countries fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR), guiding health professionals in selecting the best antibiotics for their patients.

Firstline has partnered with the WHO to give health professionals around the world free, unprecedented access to the best antibiotic knowledge.

If you are a healthcare provider, download and use the guidance today.

For global health professionals, governments and policy-makers, learn how this project transforms access to the very best clinical knowledge on AMR, and your ability to have local impact.

Global Threat of Superbugs

The World Health Organization has declared Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) a top 10 global health threat. In 2019 over 1 million deaths worldwide were attributed to bacterial infections with Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).

AMR is a slow tsunami that threatens to undo a century of medical progress.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization

A Global Health Equity Challenge

AMR is a present-day challenge for every nation. However, it disproportionately affects low- to middle-income countries, with the highest death rates occurring in western sub-Saharan Africa.

AMR requires immediate global action with responses tailored to local factors. Read the full AMR story

Antimicrobial Stewardship

An essential component of any impactful response to AMR is stewardship of these life-saving medicines. Overuse and misuse, as well as lack of access to quality-assured antimicrobials, are the main drivers of AMR. A key initiative of Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs is to produce local and standardized treatment guidelines. These establish clear recommendations for optimal antimicrobial use based on local infection susceptibilities and formulary options.

Antimicrobial Resistance

Antibiograms are prepared using local isolate susceptibilities and updated regularly by stewardship teams to guide empiric antibiotic prescribing and monitor resistance trends. Low and Middle Income Countries (LMIC) often lack effective or reliable surveillance systems to maintain up-to-date resistance patterns within their populations. Where available, antibiograms must also be effectively disseminated to local prescribers, to promote appropriate prescribing at the point of care.

Firstline helps organizations effectively distribute local antibiogram data to the fingertips of their providers. When new research or data becomes available, existing guides can be easily updated to keep pace with resistance trends.

Standardized Guidance

In many developing countries, there are few local standardized prescribing guidelines. This can contribute to inappropriate prescribing practices.

Authoritative, up to date standardized guidance helps promote the appropriate use of antimicrobials, including the selection of optimal drug regimens and administration. This improves patient outcomes and minimizes the development of antimicrobial resistance.

The Firstline Library is an open resource of peer-reviewed guidelines produced by ASP teams from all over the world. Organizations can copy guidelines and adapt them to suit local needs, accelerating the process of creating standardized guidance for key infectious disease syndromes.

Optimized For Mobile

Across emerging economies, smartphone ownership has been rising quickly year over year. Data from 2013-2018 show a median change of 29% across 8 countries. Around the world, people increasingly use smartphones rather than computers to access the internet.

Firstline delivers guidance through mobile devices to ensure equitable access for developing nations and accessibility at the point of care, even with limited internet connectivity.

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