Improving Infectious Diseases and AMR Surveillance

AMR is a serious threat to the health of the Japanese public, yet there are still gaps in our knowledge about the current extent of its spread within Japan, and how to best combat it. Our knowledge about AMR is dependent on the data collected and organized by Japan’s infectious disease surveillance systems. Although Japan has made tremendous progress in the development of these surveillance systems over the past five years, there is still much that could be done to improve the way that AMR is monitored. For instance:

• It is hard to assess the risk of AMR on a regional basis because of a lack of information on patient outcomes in AMR surveillance data
• AMR infections are not defined in Japan’s Act on the Prevention of Infectious Diseases and Medical Care for Patients with Infectious Diseases, so there are no legal requirements to monitor AMR
• AMR infections are not being systematically monitored at elderly care facilities, outpatient facilities, or healthcare facilities with 200 beds or fewer. Furthermore, the state of antimicrobial use at these facilities is unknown
• The true extent to which antimicrobial-resistant organisms have spread among people, animals, and throughout the natural environment at a regional level is unknown, making it difficult to undertake localized countermeasures