The Union health ministry has launched a groundbreaking initiative to develop evidence-based guidelines for the empirical use of antibiotics in the treatment of upper respiratory infections (URIs), acute undifferentiated fevers, and community-acquired pneumonia. The initiative, spearheaded by the Department of Health & Family Welfare (DoHFW), Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), and the Department of Health Research (DHR), aims to formulate a comprehensive set of guidelines through a rigorous scientific process that integrates the latest evidence.
The project is highly time-sensitive, with a total duration of three months. Interested researchers must submit their EoI through the provided Google Form link by August 31, 2024, 5:00 PM (Saturday). Selected applicants will be notified via email and on the ICMR website in September 2024.
Non-ICMR Institutes will receive financial support of up to Rs. 5 lakhs, while ICMR institutes may utilize intramural funding. This initiative represents a critical step forward in ensuring that the empirical use of antibiotics in India is guided by the most robust evidence, ultimately improving patient outcomes and public health.
As part of this initiative, Expressions of Interest (EoI) are now being solicited from qualified researchers to conduct systematic reviews and meta-analyses on specific review questions related to the empirical use of antibiotics. These reviews will be instrumental in shaping the guidelines and will be conducted using the GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation) approach to assess the quality of evidence.
The systematic reviews will focus on the following key review questions (PICOs) :When to start empirical antibiotics?, Which class of antibiotics to start empirically?, When to stop empirical antibiotics? And When to change antibiotics?
Researchers selected for this project will be responsible for conducting in-depth evaluations of the available literature, synthesizing evidence, and presenting their findings to inform decision-making processes. Depending on the scope, teams may be assigned multiple review questions.
Applicants must meet the following criteria: Must be professionals, scientists, or faculty members with regular employment at recognized Medical Institutes, Research Institutes, Universities, or Colleges. The Principal Investigator must have published at least two systematic reviews as the first or corresponding author in PubMed-indexed journals. Demonstrated proficiency in systematic review methodologies, including literature searches, critical appraisal of study quality, evidence synthesis, and meta-analysis. Teams must include a subject expert, a methodologist/systematic review expert, and a statistician and commitment to ethical research practices, including transparency, objectivity, and integrity.
The selected teams will be expected to deliver: A technical protocol outlining the systematic review and meta-analysis process, presentations of findings at expert group meetings and participation in related webinars, a GRADEPro summary of evidence profiles with comprehensive ratings of evidence certainty, a finalized report summarizing the systematic review process and key findings and a co-authored paper for publication.
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