Pfizer launches India’s first free of cost Online Education Platform on AMR in regional languages for Nurses

13-06-2022 Mon 16:22 | National | Press Release

Courses will focus on Infection Prevention Control and Antimicrobial stewardship practices
Medvarsity is the technical and certification partner; Americares India Foundation joins as execution partner

Mumbai, June 13, 2022: One of India’s leading multinational pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer India, announced the launch of OPEN-AMR an Online Platform for Education among Nurses on Antimicrobial Resistance in English and regional languages. Americares India Foundation, a health-focused relief and development organization, has joined as the execution partner. OPEN is a web-based platform that can be accessed by any nurse anywhere in India in 7 different languages: English, Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Marathi. Courses on the platform are available free of cost to the nurses and hospitals. The courses will focus on Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) practices and Antimicrobial Stewardship Practices (AMSP) under antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which is one of the world’s top 10 global public health threats, according to the World Health Organization. Additional courses will be included in subsequent years.

Speaking on the value of this program, Sharad Goswami, Senior Director-Corporate Affairs, Pfizer Limited, said, “Nurses are pillars of the hospital ecosystem in India and help in the efficient delivery of healthcare and in infection control. We believe that nurses can play a critical role in ensuring that good antimicrobial stewardship and infection control measures are practiced in hospitals. For many years now, tackling antimicrobial resistance has been a global and local priority for us at Pfizer. We are pleased to partner with Americares India Foundation and Medivarsity to make OPEN and the courses on AMR available to every single nurse in India.”

Commenting on the effort, Dr Atul Goel, Directorate General of Health Services, Government of India said, “I was happy to be part of AMR Program organised by Pfizer and its partners. Antimicrobial resistance is a growing public health concern, and the Government of India has taken cognisance through the implementation of the National Action Plans against AMR. We are happy to see the efforts that Pfizer and its partners are making to address the high burden of AMR in India. I would be glad to be part of the movement to control the menace and play an important role as DGHS.”

Designing the audio-visual courses and the full curriculum was a multi-staged process and involved several experts and stakeholders from Pfizer, Americares India Foundation, and Medvarsity which is the technical partner for this program. The classes are available for all nurses, at different designations and levels of education and professional experience, from students to administrators and nurse supervisors. After the initial registration, nurses may select the course that optimally meets their professional requirements and receive a certificate on completion of each of the courses.

Commenting on the program, Shripad Desai, MD and Country Director, Americares India Foundation said, “We are pleased to partner with Pfizer and Medvarsity to launch OPEN-AMR in regional languages for nurses across India. I am confident that if nurses receive the right kind of training, they can become powerful advocates and enforcers of antimicrobial stewardship practices to help slow down the spread of AMR. It is estimated that AMR will cause 2 million deaths in India by 2050. We need to take quick, concrete action today if we want to cause any reduction in that burden.”

The OPEN-AMR program further strengthens Pfizer’s Project Parivartan which is focused on addressing the current Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) challenges in healthcare facilities. Project Parivartan is also developing a model for Institutional Capacity Building to deliver facility-based IPC and antimicrobial stewardship in 11 small and mid-size hospitals across India. OPEN has already been launched in 9 of the 11 hospitals and has received excellent feedback from on-ground healthcare professionals so far.

Commenting on the value of OPEN-AMR, Dr Devikumar Kelkar, Director, Narayani Hospital, Nashik said, “On this platform, our nurses have been able to access over 11 hours of high-quality training on AMR and grow in their understanding of how best to tackle this public health challenge at the hospital. We are grateful to Pfizer, Americares India Foundation and Medvarsity for putting together this much-needed curriculum and for making it so freely accessible to all.”

The 6 courses currently being offered on OPEN are: