Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 28 June 2022
925. Deputy Duncan Smith asked the Minister for Health if he will provide this Deputy with an update of the Irish National Antimicrobial Resistance Plan originally published in October 2017 and additional information (details supplied). [34531/22]
Amharc ar fhreagraIreland's first National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance 2017-2020 , known as iNAP1, was published jointly by the Department of Health and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine in October 2017.
Ireland's second One Health National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance 2021-2025, known as iNAP2, was published jointly by the Department of Health and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine on 18th November 2021. Both plans adopt a One Health approach across the human health, animal health and environment sectors. The plans align to the five Strategic Objectives as outlined in the World Health Organisation (WHO) Global Action Plan (2015) and the requirements of the European Action Plan on AMR (2017).
iNAP2 includes 90 actions specific to human health across the 5 WHO Strategic Objectives, along with 15 One Health actions agreed across the human health, animal health and environment sectors.
Ireland's National Interdepartmental Antimicrobial Resistance Consultative Committee
The Department of Health has worked with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine as part of a One Health Approach to tackling AMR since 2014 when the National Interdepartmental AMR Consultative Committee was established. It is co-chaired by the Chief Medical Officer and the Chief Veterinary Officer.
The Committee has served as an AMR One Health committee and the membership is made up of both Government Departments, key stakeholders, and agencies from the three One Health sectors including representation from the environment sector. The Committee meets twice yearly. There were no meetings in 2020 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic but meetings recommenced in 2021. Minutes of these meetings are available on the joint AMR webpage, www.gov.ie/amr
CPE
CPE was first reported in Ireland in 2009. The national CPE reference laboratory service (NCPERLS) was established in 2012. In response to a rising number of cases in 2016, a Public Health Emergency was declared in October 2017 and the National Public Health Emergency Team CPE (NPHET-CPE) was subsequently convened.
In 2018 CPE was added to the statutory list of notifiable diseases, which physicians are legally required to submit information to the HSE HPSC when a case is identified. This enables more accurate and timely data to be compiled at a national level. Enhanced surveillance, clinical guidance, provision of screening and allocation of targeted resources were operationalised in 2018 and 2019 in response to this emergency. These initiatives, together with the collaborative work of the NPHET-CPE, DOH, HSE AMRIC, HPSC and the professional healthcare community have led to incidence of CPE stabilising across 2019, 2020 and 2021. The surveillance, screening, monitoring and management of CPE is now integrated into the day-to-day operations of the health service.
CPE testing is ongoing with a target of 25,000 CPE screening tests per month. The HSE maintained a high level of testing during the pandemic and continues to exceed this target. Further information regarding CPE, including the CPE Monthly Surveillance Reports, can be found on the Health Protection Surveillance Centre's website, www.hpsc.ie/a-z/microbiologyantimicrobialresistance/strategyforthecontrolofantimicrobialresistanceinirelandsari/carbapenemresistantenterobacteriaceaecre/surveillanceofcpeinireland/cpemonthlysurveillancereports/.
