Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (GLASS)

Launched in October 2015, the Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (GLASS) is being developed to support the global action plan on antimicrobial resistance. The aim is to support global surveillance and research in order to strengthen the evidence base on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and help informing decision-making and drive national, regional, and global actions.

Global action plan on antimicrobial resistance

GLASS promotes and supports a standardized approach to the collection, analysis and sharing of AMR data at a global level by encouraging and facilitating the establishment of national AMR surveillance systems that are capable of monitoring AMR trends and producing reliable and comparable data.

GLASS objectives

Foster national surveillance systems and harmonized global standards;
estimate the extent and burden of AMR globally by selected indicators;
analyse and report global data on AMR on a regular basis;
detect emerging resistance and its international spread;
inform implementation of targeted prevention and control programmes; and
assess the impact of interventions.

Road map

Early implementation of GLASS covers the period 2015–2019. During this period, GLASS will provide surveillance and laboratory guidance, tools and support to countries in developing effective AMR surveillance systems. Further development of GLASS will be based on the lessons learnt during this period. The GLASS manual for early implementation details the proposed approach, and outlines the flexible and incremental development of the system over time.

GLASS manual for early implementation

Scope

GLASS will initially focus on surveillance data on human priority bacterial pathogens considered the greatest threat globally and progressively incorporate information from other surveillance systems related to AMR in humans, such as foodborne AMR, monitoring of antimicrobial use and surveillance of infections associated with health care.

Collaboration

GLASS implementation is supported by the WHO AMR Surveillance and Quality Assessment Collaborating Centers Network and conducted in collaboration with the WHO Regional Offices and existing regional surveillance networks.

Call for participation

Countries can benefit from participation in GLASS through enhanced capacity building, access to training and implementation tools, and support in collecting AMR data at local and national levels. Country participation in GLASS must be with the agreement of the national government.

Call for country participation in GLASS is open. For further information see link below.