Third training session for the ARCH International Training Programme (ITP) funded by VLIR-UOS and DGD

After the two previous training sessions in May and September 2024, a third training session for the International Training Programme (ITP) on “Antimicrobial Resistance Containment  in Hospital settings in West Africa” (ARCH) took place in May 2025. The ITP is funded by the Flemish Interuniversity Council (VLIR-UOS) and the Belgian Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid (DGD).

This third training session consisted of a preparatory online module (lasting 3 weeks) and a 1-week face-to-face starter module, which took place from 12/05 to 16/05/2025 in Cotonou, Benin. For this multidisciplinary training session, 21 healthcare professionals (medical doctors, nursing staff, laboratory technicians and microbiologists) from 3 countries participated. Fourteen participants came from Benin, 6 from Burkina Faso and 1 from Belgium. They were divided into 2 discipline-specific tracks (clinical track and laboratory track) and were trained in the basics of clinical bacteriology, antibiotic stewardship and infection prevention and control. Didactic approaches included theoretical sessions, laboratory practical sessions, skills lab, simulation with dummy arms and dolls, instructional videos and peer learning.

The training staff came from the «Laboratoire de Référence des Mycobactéries » (https://srlcotonou.org/en/the-laboratory/) in Cotonou, Benin; the “Centre National Hospitalier Universitaire – Hubert Koutoukou Maga” in Cotonou, Benin; the “Hôpital de Zone Sounon Séro de Nikki” in Benin; the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium; and the Clinical Research Unit of Nanoro in Burkina Faso.

Participants and trainers of the ITP organized in May 2025

Visit of the clinical track participants (medical doctors and nursing staff) to the bacteriology training laboratory