Auteur/autrice : David De Pooter

Antimicrobial resistance knows no borders, and neither does drive-AMS. Following its successful implementation in Greece, Portugal, Romania and Lithuania, the drive-AMS approach is now taking root in Cyprus. With the enthusiastic leadership of Dr. Elisavet Constantinou, Dr. Markella Marcou and Dr. Linos Hadjihannas, the country has taken major steps in implementing antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) at the hospital level. In a first major milestone, eight newly established AMS teams were trained in February 2025 as part of a tailor-made drive-AMS training. In this interview, Dr. Marcou and Dr. Hadjihannas reflect on their motivation, the AMR situation in Cyprus, and their expectations for the future.

The SPICE initiative (Specialized Program for Infectious Disease Care Everywhere) has now expanded its expert-led support to Greece. This effort is part of the broader drive-AMS project and aims to empower hospitals in partner countries with tailored, expert-backed AMS consultation services.

On May 21st, ULS São João brought together leaders from 16 Portuguese ULS (Local Health Units) for the national leadership meeting of the drive-AMS program—a project focused on improving antimicrobial prescribing practices through behavioral change strategies.

We’re excited to announce the Final Consortium Meeting of the drive-AMS project, taking place from 16–18 October 2025 in Brussels. This three-day event will gather partners, experts, and stakeholders from across Europe to reflect on the achievements of drive-AMS in strengthening antimicrobial stewardship and to shape the future of post-project collaboration.

At the ESCMID Global 2025 conference (Vienna, 11-15 April), the drive-AMS consortium presented key outcomes from its innovative EU-wide antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) project. The poster, titled “Implementation of hospital antimicrobial stewardship in Europe using a data-driven behaviour change approach,” showcased inspiring results from the first two years of the project.