The Infection Control Africa Network (ICAN) regularly organizes IPC focused congresses. The 2025 ICAN Congress placed a strong emphasis on antimicrobial and diagnostic stewardship and for that reason, Global-PPS, in collaboration with bioMérieux, made a significant impact at the 9th International ICAN Congress in Cape Town, South Africa (29 June to 2 July 2025). Global-PPS convened experts, showcased research, and delivered practical insights into data-driven approaches for tackling antimicrobial resistance across the African continent.

Workshop: “Advancing Antimicrobial Stewardship”

Held on Sunday, 29 June, the Global-PPS workshop, “Advancing Antimicrobial Stewardship: Data-Driven Insights and Behavioral Change through the Power of the Global-PPS”, brought together leading voices from academia, public health, and policy.

Prof. Heather Finlayson opened the session by reflecting on the relevance of Global-PPS in the African context, whereafter speakers from across the continent shared practical data-driven AMS strategies:

• Ann Versporten (Belgium) highlighted the evolution of Global-PPS and its future alignment with the WHO-PPS
• Prof. Heather Finlayson (South Africa) shared valuable insights on the gaps and existing approaches of diagnostic stewardship
• Prof. Oyin Oduyebo (Nigeria) highlighted behavioral change through data,
• Reshma Misra (KwaZulu Natal) and Maxencia Nabiryo (Uganda) shared valuable AMS implementation experiences,
• Dr. Philip Oshun (Nigeria) and Annelies Boven (Belgium) explored outpatient AMS surveillance in Africa,
• Prof. Andy Bulabula (Africa CDC) discussed policy, One Health, and IPC perspectives.

The session concluded with a forward-looking panel discussion led by Prof. Heather Finlayson, identifying next steps for AMS implementation in Africa.

Scientific sessions and poster presentations

Global-PPS experts also contributed to the broader ICAN 2025 scientific programme:

• 30 June: The session “Applying Point Prevalence Surveys to Enhance Antimicrobial Stewardship on the African Continent” featured key presentations:
  • Global-PPS on Antimicrobial Consumption and HAI Surveillance in African countries. Harmonisation Trajectory between Global-PPS and WHO-PPS (Ann Versporten)
  • Enhancing International AMS Implementation with Global-PPS: The SPARC Programme Experience (Maxencia Nabiryo)
  • Antimicrobial Prescribing & Surveillance of Healthcare Associated Infection in the Province of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa (Reshma Misra)
• 2 July: Dr. Philip Oshun presented an oral abstract on “Antimicrobial Stewardship in Community Healthcare Settings and Outpatients”, focusing on outpatient stewardship in Nigeria.
• The Global-PPS delegates also presented seven posters at ICAN 2025, sharing their latest research findings and insights:
  • The outpatient Global-PPS identifies key action points for antimalarial antimicrobial stewardship among healthcare facilities in Lagos, Nigeria
  • The outpatient Global-PPS identifies key action points for antimicrobial stewardship among healthcare facilities in Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Togo
  • Longitudinal trends highlight the persistence of antimicrobial prescribing patterns in Nigerian hospitals
  • The Global Point Prevalence Survey of Antimicrobial Consumption and Resistance (Global-PPS) in The Outpatient Departments of a Gauteng Academic facility
  • Patterns of Antibiotic Use Among Adult Patients Across Seven Hospitals in Malawi
  • A standardized approach for measuring outpatient antimicrobial use data: development and evaluation of the outpatient Global Point Prevalence Survey
  • Surgical Prophylactic Prescribing in African Hospitals. Findings from the Global-Point Prevalence Survey on Antimicrobial Consumption and Resistance

A catalyst for change in Africa

The Global-PPS participation at ICAN 2025 reinforced its role as a catalyst for change in antimicrobial stewardship. With a growing footprint in African countries and an expanding outpatient focus, our project continues to empower healthcare institutions with the data and tools needed to drive responsible antimicrobial use. Discussions also explored future possibilities for integrating additional IPC variables into the Global-PPS inpatient module.

What is ICAN?

Since the foundation of “The Infection Control Africa Network (ICAN) with its headquarters in Cape Town, South Africa, it has grown substantially over the last 15 years and has become the voice of Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) in Africa with over 2118 members since 2015 from 54 countries across Africa and Europe. ICAN trains professionals on infection control programmes and has developed hubs across Africa to ensure that IPC training becomes closer to various regions. ICAN hosted already several congresses, mainly focusing on IPC.

➡️ More information about the ICAN 2025 Congress at: www.icancongress.com