Antimicrobial Resistance National Action Plan 2019-2023.

This Brunei Darussalam Antimicrobial Resistance National Action Plan 2019-2023 outlines four strategic objectives needed to mitigate the risks posed by AMR: Awareness and Education, Surveillance and Research, Infection Prevention and Control and Optimize Use of Antimicrobials.
The Policy seeks to enable more inclusive and efficient agricultural and food system. Key priority initiatives include enhancing AMR education amongst professionals in human, animal and environmental health; strengthening surveillance through a national coordinating center and to scale up existing policies and best practices in infection prevention and control and antibiotic stewardship programmes to more facilities. In the aspect of food safety, engagement with food safety division will be needed to enhance policies on imported food (from source to consumer). Other supportive activi ties such as routine testing of the presence of antibiotic residues in food chain and screening food for harmful foodborne bacteria such as Salmonella will be carried out. The surveillance of drug-resistant organisms in food products which includes retail food and meat, and to assess risk to consumers will be introduced. In the aspect of environment, the Policy states that there is a need to identify a national government agency that will oversee the impact of AMR on the environment. The agency will be responsible for determining the baseline microorganism community and the diversity of environment gene reservoirs of ubiquitous microorganisms in water catchments, water and used-water treatment process, urban water bodies and urban pests; conduct measurement of antibiotic concentrations, drug-resistant organisms and/or antimicrobial genes, set up a systematic environmental surveillance system and to conduct risk assessment using data collected from surveillance. To optimize use of antimicrobials, pharmacovigilance Programme and Animal Feed Programme will be introduced to strengthen the regulation to restrict the use of antimicrobials as animal growth promoters and prophylaxis amongst farmers and other stakeholders. Under the Veterinary Surgeon Order (VSO), practicing veterinarians in the country are required to register with the Veterinary Council in order to obtain poisons license and veterinarians are required to abide by code of ethics which includes prudent antimicrobial usage and, to have sessions on awareness for prudent usage of antibiotic.
In terms of governance, the Brunei Darussalam Antimicrobial Resistance Committee (BDAMRC) was set up in December 2018 for the purposes of coordinating and overseeing the strategic planning, implementation and the monitoring of AMR-related activities in the country, across all relevant sectors involving human and animal health, agriculture and environmental sectors. In addition to this, it serves as a platform for information sharing, notification and communication regarding AMR-related issues.