Strengthening Surgical Antibiotic Prophylaxis & Surgical Site Infection (SSI) Management
Kenya | Makueni • Kiambu • Nairobi (Multi-County Programme)
A multi-county antimicrobial stewardship intervention aimed at reducing inappropriate surgical antibiotic use and surgical site infections through guideline development, behavioral interventions, surveillance systems, and health economic evaluation.
Programme Background
Surgical site infections (SSIs) remain a major cause of morbidity in Kenyan health facilities, driven by inconsistent antibiotic prophylaxis practices and weak antimicrobial stewardship systems.
Across Makueni, Kiambu, and Nairobi, variation in surgical antibiotic use and lack of standardized protocols has contributed to suboptimal patient outcomes and rising antimicrobial resistance risks.
This ICARS-supported programme addresses these gaps through structured AMS interventions, behavioral change frameworks, and multi-county implementation of standardized surgical antibiotic prophylaxis (SAP) guidelines.
Programme Statistics
32
Training & Implementation Sessions
250+
Healthcare Workers Engaged
8
Health Facilities Covered
$582K
Programme Value
Programme Objectives
Optimize Surgical Antibiotics
Standardize antibiotic prophylaxis practices across surgical units.
Reduce SSI Rates
Strengthen infection prevention and surgical safety outcomes.
Strengthen AMS Data Systems
Improve surveillance of antimicrobial consumption and usage.
Behavioral Change (COM-B)
Influence prescribing behavior using evidence-based interventions.
Key Interventions
- Development of Surgical Antibiotic Prophylaxis (SAP) guidelines
- Point Prevalence Surveys (PPS) for antibiotic use
- Antimicrobial Consumption (AMC) tracking systems
- Behavioral interventions using COM-B framework
- Health economic evaluation of AMS interventions
- Baseline situational analysis across counties
- AMS audits and surgical prescribing assessments
- Monitoring & evaluation of SSI outcomes
Implementation Role
Position
Project Coordinator – ICARS AMS Programme
Partners
University of Nairobi, County Governments, Surgical Society of Kenya
Led AMS integration across surgical departments
Coordinated PPS and AMC surveillance systems
Oversaw behavioral intervention implementation (COM-B)
AMS Impact Visualization
Major Achievements & AMS Impact
Standardized SAP Guidelines
Harmonized surgical antibiotic prophylaxis across multiple counties.
Improved AMS Data Systems
Strengthened AMC and PPS surveillance infrastructure.
250+ Healthcare Workers
Trained in AMS, SSI prevention, and surgical best practices.
Multi-County Impact
Scaled AMS interventions across 3 major Kenyan counties.
@2026 One Health Antimicrobial Resistance Network (OHAAN). All rights reserved.