Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the greatest threats to human health. Awareness of the seriousness of the situation and urgent action is required globally and nationally. However, concerted action and research is fragmented and lacking a coordinated, whole system approach necessary to address AMR.
Research into infection prevention and antimicrobial use (AMU) – key drivers of Healthcare Associated Infections (HAI) and AMR can be supported by greater data linkage of routinely collected data from hospitals and the community. Access to data will also inform and evaluate effective interventions and public health initiatives.
CARA is designed to combine data on AMU, AMR and Infection and allow researchers and healthcare workers (users) to use this information to improve healthcare. A data-infrastructure will be set up in such a way that users can access the data through visualisations, for instance, combining data from different sources in a graph or a map. Additionally, data from different sources will be available for further in-depth linked analysis to identify modifiable risk factors. Initially data will come from hospitals, the HSE and general practitioners, but once set up, a one-health approach will be taken to include agricultural, environmental and genomic information on AMU, AMR and IC. The data-infrastructure will be open access.
Researchers will be recruited to explore and analyse the linked data to identify factors that can be changed to improve healthcare, adapt strategies and design interventions to fight AMR. A network of healthcare workers with an interest in infections, and researchers, nationally and internationally, will be set up to progress the research agenda and share the findings. Evidence will be translated into actionable knowledge to adapt prescribing guidelines, infection control practices and policy. The RL award will establish CARA as the go-to place for research and information on HAI, AMR and AMU.
