SARI Committee.

Thursday, 28 October 2004

Questions (64)

David Stanton

Question:

53 Mr. Stanton asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children the names of the members of the national SARI committee established in 2002; the procedures in place to review the work of the committee; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26356/04]

View answer

Written answers

Tánaiste and Minister for Health and Children (Ms Harney)

In 1999, my Department asked the National Disease Surveillance Centre, NDSC, to evaluate the problem of antimicrobial resistance in Ireland and to formulate a strategy for the future. The NDSC gave detailed consideration to these issues and drew up a strategy for the control of antimicrobial resistance in Ireland, SARI, which was launched on 19 June 2001. This report contains a wide range of detailed recommendations to address the issue of antimicrobial resistance, including a strategy to control the inappropriate use of antibiotics.

The SARI recommendations can be grouped into five main categories, as follows: surveillance of antimicrobial resistance; monitoring of the supply and use of antimicrobials; development of guidance in relation to the appropriate use of antimicrobials; education of health care workers, patients and the general public; and, development of principles in relation to infection control in the hospital and community setting.

The strategy for the control of antimicrobial resistance in Ireland recommended that a national SARI committee be established to develop guidelines, protocols and strategies in relation to antimicrobial resistance. This committee was established in late 2002 and as part of its remit provides advice to the regional SARI committees in each health board area which were established as a result of the strategy's recommendations. The national SARI committee is comprised of a wide range of experts in the field.

The current membership of the SARI National Committee is as follows:

Nominating Body	Representative
Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland	Professor Hilary Humphreys* (chair)
National Disease Surveillance Centre	Dr Robert Cunney** (honorary secretary)
Academy of Medical Laboratory Science	Ms Margaret Fitzpatrick
Health Board CEO Group:	1 Dr Declan McKeown
	2 Mr Éamonn Fitzgerald
	3 Ms Mary Diver
Consumers’ Association of Ireland	Ms Dorothy Gallagher
Department of Agriculture & Food	Dr Michael Gunn
Faculty of Paediatrics	Dr Karina Butler
Faculty of Pathology	Professor Martin Cormican
Faculty of Public Health Medicine	Dr Máire O’Connor
Faculty of Veterinary Medicine	Dr Nola Leonard
Food Safety Authority of Ireland	Mr David Nolan
Infection Control Nurses’ Association	Ms Roma Ruddy
Irish College of General Practitioners	Professor Colin Bradley***
Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association	Ms Leonie Clarke
Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland	Ms Marita Kinsella
Royal College of Physicians of Ireland	Dr Lynda Fenelon
University Dental School and Hospital	Dr Christine McCreary
Department of Health and Children:	1 Dr Eibhlín Connolly
	2 Mr Brian Mullen
	3 Mr Pat Clifford
Chairs of Regional SARI Committees:
ERHA	Dr Eleanor McNamara
MHB	Dr Phil Jennings
MWHB	Dr Kevin Kelleher
NEHB	Dr Rosemary Curran
NWHB	Dr Anthony Breslin
SEHB	Dr Anne Moloney
SHB	Dr Olive Murphy
WHB	Dr Diarmuid O’Donovan
Chair of SARI Hospital Antibiotic Stewardship Subcommittee	Dr Edmond Smyth
Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (Northern Ireland) (Observer)	Dr Lorraine Doherty

* Also chair of SARI Infection Control Subcommittee.

** Also chair of SARI Antimicrobial Resistance and Antimicrobial Consumption Surveillance Subcommittees.

*** Also chair of SARI Community Antibiotic Stewardship Subcommittee.

Tackling the problem of antimicrobial resistance is a multi-faceted issue which will require action on a number of fronts. Implementation of the strategy is taking place on a phased basis and will take a number of years to complete. To date, approximately €16 million has been allocated by my Department to health boards to enable them to put in place measures to control antimicrobial resistance. It is ultimately a matter for each health board CEO to determine the priorities in each region. These priorities should take account of the recommendations in the SARI report and also the recommendations put forward by each regional SARI committee. Much of the funding is designated for improving hospital infrastructure for control of infection and for appointing additional microbiologists, infection control nurses and other healthcare professionals involved in the control of infection.

Work on the SARI annual report for 2003 is nearing completion; the report will be presented to the national SARI committee at its meeting in December and will include details of the national committee's work to date.

In addition, there is an annual SARI implementation meeting to which all parties involved in SARI are invited. These include members of the national committee, regional committees and sub-committees, various professional groups involved in the control of antimicrobial resistance, for example, microbiologists, infection control nurses, public health specialists and surveillance scientists, as well as representatives from my Department and health board administration. The annual SARI implementation meeting was held in Tullamore in December 2003 and this year's meeting will be held next month in Dundalk. The 2004 meeting will be a joint North-South meeting with the antimicrobial resistance action plan, AMRAP, the equivalent strategy in Northern Ireland. Meeting participants are updated on the work of the national committee and feedback from the meeting is used to direct the priorities for the committee for the following year.