ASPIRE - Antimicrobial Stewardship, Prevention of Infection and Resistance in Africa
The ASPIRE Consortium is an African–European collaborative network dedicated to strengthening health systems through implementation-oriented research in Ghana and Ethiopia. Bringing together expertise in clinical infectious diseases, health economics, and eHealth systems, the consortium integrates a broad multidisciplinary skill set to support projects that address some of the most pressing global health challenges. ASPIRE is implemented by an international team of partners from Ghana, Ethiopia, Germany, Norway, and affiliated institutions in India.
A Continental Network of Partner Sites
ASPIRE operates through a network of major academic hospitals and universities.
In Ethiopia, participating study sites include:
- Jimma University Medical Center (JUMC) in Jimma
- St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College (SPHMMC) in Addis Ababa
- Asella Teaching and Referral Hospital (ATRH) and the College of Health Sciences of Arsi University
In Ghana, the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) serves as a key partner.
European institutions provide essential scientific and technical support:
- Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU)
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich (LMU), which leads financial coordination and project management
Additional support comes from the University of Oslo (UiO), building on long-standing collaborations established through the COMBAT AMR network, which since 2017 has worked to strengthen diagnostic capacity, surveillance, quality control, molecular resistance analysis, and antimicrobial stewardship across African tertiary hospitals.
Addressing a Critical Global Health Threat
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) remains one of the most urgent global health challenges. In 2019, an estimated five million deaths worldwide were associated with bacterial AMR, with particularly high rates in African countries. Multidrug-resistant bacteria frequently cause healthcare-associated infections, whose prevalence in the WHO African Region may reach up to 27 percent. These infections lead to higher mortality, prolonged hospital stays, increased treatment costs, and limited therapeutic options. Inappropriate antibiotic use and insufficient infection control measures further accelerate the spread of resistance, while data gaps in low-income settings continue to hinder effective interventions.
The ASPIRE Study: A Two-Part Strategy
Funded by the European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP), ASPIRE aims to strengthen antimicrobial stewardship through the integration of drug resistance data, therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM), and improved infection prevention and control (IPC) practices.
Part A evaluates the impact of enhanced IPC interventions on the incidence of healthcare-associated infections across four partner hospitals in Ethiopia and Ghana. Control clusters follow routine IPC procedures, while intervention clusters implement a strengthened IPC package to assess its effectiveness.
Part B focuses on severe bacterial infections by analysing bacterial pathogens and their antimicrobial resistance patterns. Patients undergo microbiological diagnostics and empiric antibiotic therapy, supported by therapeutic drug monitoring to optimize dosing and improve outcomes. Together, these approaches aim to improve antibiotic use and reduce the burden of antimicrobial resistance.
