Glass Guidance For National Reference Laboratories

The purpose of this manual is to provide guidance for countries on the methods and metrics for the surveillance of AMR in selected bacteria causing common human infections. This manual is part of a package of documents and tools designed to inform GLASS implementation and describes the objectives and methodology of GLASS AMR, the GLASS component dealing with the global surveillance of AMR in selected bacteria causing common human infections.

In 2015 the World Health Assembly endorsed the Global action plan on antimicrobial resistance calling on countries to develop and implement national action plans on antimicrobial resistance (AMR). For most countries, the greatest challenge is not developing a national action plan; rather, it is the implementation of the plan based on evidence-based prioritization of activities, systematic monitoring of progress, and ensuring sustainability of efforts. The purpose of this publication is to to provide a practical, stepwise approach to the implementation of the national action plan on AMR within the human health sector; and to provide a process and collation of existing WHO tools to prioritize, cost, implement, monitor and evaluate national action plan activities. The target audience of the publication are national/subnational stakeholders working on AMR within the human health sector. This includes national health authorities, national multisectoral coordination groups, senior technical experts and policymakers involved in implementing AMR activities at all levels of the health system, and implementation partners to accelerate sustainable implementation and monitoring and evaluation of national action plans on AMR.

The Joint External Evaluation (JEE) is a voluntary component of the International Health Regulations Monitoring and Evaluation Framework (IHRMEF). The JEE was introduced in 2016 to measure the availability of a country’s capacity to prevent, detect, and rapidly respond to public health emergencies. This third edition of the JEE includes improvements to the overall tool and new indicators based on the lessons learnt from the COVID19 pandemic. The third version of the JEE tool comprises of 19 technical areas and 56 indicators.

The GLASS Report 2021 highlights the new GLASS technical module on antimicrobial consumption surveillance, GLASS-AMC, and summarizes the results of the 2020 AMR and AMC data calls. It also describes the status of development of GLASS activities and WHO AMR-related activities globally and regionally.

A respected resource for decades, the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals has been updated by a committee of experts, taking into consideration input from the scientific and laboratory animal communities and the public at large. The Guide incorporates new scientific information on common laboratory animals, including aquatic species, and includes extensive references. It is organized around major components of animal use: Key concepts of animal care and use. The Guide sets the framework for the humane care and use of laboratory animals. Animal care and use program. The Guide discusses the concept of a broad Program of Animal Care and Use, including roles and responsibilities of the Institutional Official, Attending Veterinarian and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. Animal environment, husbandry, and management. A chapter on this topic is now divided into sections on terrestrial and aquatic animals and provides recommendations for housing and environment, husbandry, behavioral and population management, and more. Veterinary care. The Guide discusses veterinary care and the responsibilities of the Attending Veterinarian. It includes recommendations on animal procurement and transportation, preventive medicine (including animal biosecurity), and clinical care and management. The Guide addresses distress and pain recognition and relief, and issues surrounding euthanasia. Physical plant. The Guide identifies design issues, providing construction guidelines for functional areas; considerations such as drainage, vibration and noise control, and environmental monitoring; and specialized facilities for animal housing and research needs. The Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals provides a framework for the judgments required in the management of animal facilities. This updated and expanded resource of proven value will be important to scientists and researchers, veterinarians, animal care personnel, facilities managers, institutional administrators, policy makers involved in research issues, and animal welfare advocates.

"In May 2015, the Sixty-eighth World Health Assembly adopted the Global action plan on antimicrobial resistance, which reflects the global consensus that AMR poses a profound threat to human health. One of the five strategic objectives of the Global action plan is to strengthen the evidence base through enhanced global surveillance and research. The Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (GLASS) has been developed to facilitate and encourage a standardized approach to AMR surveillance globally and in turn support the implementation of the Global action plan on antimicrobial resistance. This manual addresses the early phase of implementation of GLASS, focussing on surveillance of resistance in common human bacterial pathogens. The intended readership of this publication is public health professionals and health authorities responsible for national AMR surveillance. It outlines the GLASS standards and describes the road map for implementation of the system between 2015 and 2019. Further development of GLASS will be based on the lessons learnt during this period"--Publisher's description.