Six Lecturers of the Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya (FK-UB) held a Community Service related to antimicrobial resistance control at First Level Health Service Facilities in Blitar Regency. They are lecturers from the Department of Clinical Microbiology FK-UB, namely dr. Dewi Santosaningsih, Sp.MK., M.Kes., Ph.D, dr. Yuanita Mulyastuti, M.Si, dr. Siwipeni Irmawanti Rahayu, Sp.MK, M.Biomed, and dr. Etty Fitria Ruliatna, Sp.MK (K), Dr. Dewi Retnoningsih, SpMK, and Dr. Rendra Bramanthi, SpMK (K). This activity also involves students of Medical Microbiology Specialist Medical Education Program FK-UB.
The Chair of the Community Service Team, dr. Dewi Santosaningsih, Sp.MK., M.Kes., Ph.D said that antimicrobial resistance is recognized as a global health problem, so the capacity of health workers at First Level Health Service Facilities in controlling antimicrobial resistance is very important.
“According to the results of the 2019 survey, the knowledge of health workers at Health Centers in Blitar Regency regarding the use of antibiotics still needs to be improved with a better strategy. Therefore, we are doing community service here by inviting representatives of health workers consisting of doctors, dentists, and pharmacists,” explained Dewi Santosaningsih.
Activities carried out include increasing the capacity of health workers at Health Center in October 2022, covering five training topics namely the Problem of Antimicrobial Resistance in the World, Antibiotics and Their Mechanisms of Action, Mechanisms of Antibiotic Resistance, Use of Empirical Antibiotics in Primary Health Care Facilities, and Prevention of Transmission of Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria . The method is carried out through interactive discussions and the practice of washing hands according to WHO standards and the practice of using personal protective equipment.
The results of the analysis of the knowledge of the training participants before and after the training showed a significant increase in scores. Participants had better knowledge about the definition of antibiotics, factors to consider in choosing the type and dosage of empirical antibiotics, and moments to perform hand hygiene according to WHO standards.
“We conclude that this module-based training program can increase the knowledge of health workers at the health center in Blitar district in controlling antimicrobial resistance. However, there needs to be an ongoing training program so that it can run long-term,” said Dewi Santosaningsih.
Monitoring the implementation of the training was carried out by sending a Google form survey link to the representatives of the Community Health Centers who were present to find out the obstacles experienced in preventing and controlling antibiotic resistance at Community Health Centers in Blitar Regency. [Irene/Humas UB/ Trans. Iir]
