Invited Speaker Australian Society for Microbiology Annual Scientific Meeting 2022

Development of diagnostic microbiology and quality management in Papua New Guinea (82188)

Gabby Ak 1 , John K Ferguson 2 3 4 , Colleen Allen 2 , Wendy Jackson 2 , Amrita Ronnachit 5 6 7 , Willie Porau 8
  1. Microbiology, Port Moresby General Hospital, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
  2. Pacific Region Infectious Diseases Association , Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
  3. Hunter New England Health, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
  4. University of Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW, Australia
  5. Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  6. Sydney Local Health District, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  7. University of Sydney , Sydney, NSW , Australia
  8. Central Public Health Laboratory, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea

This presentation will describe progress of the UK-funded PNG Fleming Fund project that commenced in 2021 with the aim to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and develop quality microbiology services across both animal and human health sectors in partnership with the PNG Department of Health. The project has been implemented by the Burnet Institute with involvement from the Pacific Region Infectious Diseases Association (PRIDA) and the PNG Institute of Medical Research. It aims to improve the diagnosis of antibiotic resistant bacterial infections and to acquire quality AMR and antibiotic usage surveillance data that will inform policy and practice at the national level with a one health approach.  The project has introduced ISO-15189 level quality management and biosafety practices into several human health regional laboratories along with equipment, reagents and professional development to enable best practice blood cultures, bacterial identification and antibiotic susceptibility testing. A national microbiology reference laboratory is also being established for human health.  The project is running in conjunction with a PRIDA-organised 40 week course for microbiology scientists that includes weekly mentored microbiology laboratory rounds across 5 PNG sites and fortnightly case presentations (this activity is cofunded by the Fleming Fund Country Grant).