The Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) plays a key role in the Philippines’ participation in the WHO’s Enhanced Gonococcal Antimicrobial Surveillance Programme (EGASP). RITM contributes to the programme by collecting samples, conducting laboratory testing, and submitting surveillance data from three sentinel sites in Metro Manila – The Love Yourself Clinic, Paranaque Social Hygiene Clinic and Taguig Social Hygiene Clinic. The ARSP sentinel sites – Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center and Southern Philippines Medical Center likewise serve as reference laboratories for Philippine EGASP.

We are proud to share our contribution to the recently published multi-country study in The Lancet Regional Health – Western Pacific, “Antimicrobial resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae in nine sentinel countries within the World Health Organization Enhanced Gonococcal Antimicrobial Surveillance Programme (EGASP), 2023: a retrospective observational study”. The study, conducted under the WHO Enhanced Gonococcal Antimicrobial Surveillance Programme (EGASP), analyzed nearly 2,500 isolates across nine sentinel countries in 2023. Findings revealed alarming resistance rates in Cambodia and Viet Nam, while isolates from the Philippines remained susceptible to ceftriaxone, cefixime, and azithromycin.

For the full-text article, click on this link: Antimicrobial resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae in nine sentinel countries within the World Health Organization Enhanced Gonococcal Antimicrobial Surveillance Programme (EGASP), 2023: a retrospective observational study