This is an important episode highlighting the concern of antimicrobial resistance (AMR and how to use antimicrobial appropriately (through antimicrobial stewardship) to combat AMR. In this episode of Microbe Mail, host Dr Vindana Chibabhai (Vin) chats to Sonya Kolman, a clinical pharmacist based at the Nelson Mandela Children’s Hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa about what makes antimicrobials different from other medication, and what the quality indicators are of antimicrobial use.

Read more about the WHO AWaRe classification of antibiotics here

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About our guest Sonya Kolman

Graduated from Wits with a BPharm degree in 1989. She completed her MScMed (clinical pharmacy) 1997.

Sonya was employed at Netcare Linksfield as the clinical pharmacist since Mid-2010 until April 2017. She successfully implemented the antibiotic stewardship programme at Netcare Linksfield in the ICU and roll out to the rest of the hospital is underway. She was part of the Netcare leadership group for antibiotic stewardship.

Sonya moved to the Nelson Mandela Children Hospital as the clinical pharmacist in 2017. There, she is responsible for clinical pharmacy activities in the hospital especially in the NICU and PICU. She is responsible for all antimicrobial stewardship activities in the hospital and is chairperson of the hospital’s AMS committee. Sonya is a founding member of the Society of Clinical pharmacy (SASOCP). She was the chairperson 2011 – 2015, Vice chairperson 2016-2019 and national treasurer from 2019-2021

She is an external examiner for the MscMed clinical pharmacy programme at Medunsa university, a part time lecturer at School Pharmacy Wits University and a member the Gauteng Antimicrobial stewardship committee and part of the guideline subcommittee.

Twitter: @Sonya_kolman

Nelson Mandela Children’s hospital Twitter: @_NMCH_

Nelson Mandel Children’s hospital website