Antimicrobial resistance national level dialogue and action in Ghana: setting and sustaining the agenda and outcomes
Open accessAbstract
Background: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has gained national and international attention. The design and launch of national policy on antimicrobial use and resistance and action plan marked a milestone in Ghana’s commitment to control AMR. These strategies are some outcomes of getting and sustaining AMR issues prominence on government’s agenda. Understanding the agenda setting processes, policy actors involved and policy change is important as this provides insights on how and why policy actors defined and framed AMR issues to sustain its prominence despite the changing priorities of government agenda. Objective: To examine the processes of setting and sustaining AMR issues on government agenda, the policy actors involved and resulting outcomes. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted and data collected through interviewing twenty-four respondents and reviewing technical working group meeting reports and health sector documents. Data was analysed drawing on Kingdon’s agenda setting framework. Result: Members of a multisectoral technical working group (AMR platform) formed in 2011 constantly built consensus on AMR problem definition, solutions and actively engaged decision makers to mobilise support and interest. The AMR platform members sustained AMR attention and prominence on government’s agenda through the following multisectoral coordination mechanisms: (1) institutionalising AMR platform activities (2) gathering evidence, sharing findings, and supporting research (3) creating awareness and training (4) gaining and maintaining political support. The activities of the AMR platform contributed to three remarkable outcomes and these are (1) maintained network of AMR Champions, (2) design of a national policy on antimicrobial use and resistance in Ghana (1st edition) and national action plan (2017–2021), and (3) Ghana’s hosting of the second Global call to action on AMR. Conclusion: The AMR platform members as influencers concentrated their efforts to move and sustain AMR issues on government agenda. The identified multisectoral coordination mechanisms collectively contributed to agenda setting processes and policy change. The AMR platform engagements are ongoing and it is important the momentum is maintained. As multisectoral coordination and activities are vital especially for AMR ‘One Health’ approach, we hope this paper presents lessons for better understanding of how and why multisectoral groups influence national level agenda setting processes.
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In Ghana, a five-year National Action Plan on AMR was instituted in 2017, focusing on enhanced surveillance through a One Health approach.
“In Ghana, a five-year National Action Plan (NAP) on AMR was instituted in 2017, focusing on enhanced surveillance through a One Health approach [15].”
From A Systematic Review on Antimicrobial Resistance in Ghana from a One Health Perspective (2024) · cites this paper as [15]
The Abstract (Result; page not provided) identifies a Ghanaian AMR national action plan for 2017–2021. The Results (Outcomes of sustained AMR agenda; page not provided) link the national policy to stronger surveillance, and the paper describes Ghana’s multisectoral One Health approach. But the Background explicitly says the policy and NAP were launched on 11 April 2018, not instituted in 2017. (LLM, conf=0.88)
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- Authors
- Koduah, A., Gyansa-Lutterodt, M., Hedidor, G. K., Sekyi-Brown, R., Asiedu-Danso, M., Asare, B. A., Ackon, A. A., & Annan, E. A.
- Affiliations
- University of Ghana (GH)
- World Health Organization (CH)
- Ministry of Health (GH)
- World Health Organization - Zimbabwe (ZW)
- Corresponding author
- Koduah, Augustina
- Venue
- One Health Outlook
- Published
- 2021-10-19
- Volume
- 3
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 18-18
- ISSN
- 2524-4655 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC8524845
- OpenAlex
- W3207907251
- Cited by
- 24
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 4
- FWCI
- 1.76
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- One Health Outlook (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- World Health Organization
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology › Antibiotic Use and Resistance
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Global Public Health Policies and Epidemiology
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Public Health Policies and Education
- Keywords
- antimicrobial resistance, agenda setting, policy change, multisectoral coordination, technical working group, national action plans, political support, One Health, Ghana
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