EGASP

The WHO Gonorrhoea Antimicrobial Surveillance Programme (GASP) was initiated in 1990 as a collaborative surveillance programme initiative with the aim of monitoring AMR in N. gonorrhoeae worldwide. GASP data have since then informed revisions of global, regional and national gonorrhoea treatment guidelines developed by WHO and other public health organisations.

The GLASS “enhanced” gonorrhoea AMR surveillance programme (GLASS-EGASP) seeks to gather more detailed information on the epidemiology of AMR N. gonorrhoeae. EGASP ensures that epidemiological data (which is more extensive) is linked to laboratory results, using the E-test method for antimicrobial susceptibility testing. In addition, the capacity of the identified laboratories to perform gonorrhoea culture and antimicrobial susceptibility testing is being strengthened through training and the implementation of adequate internal and external laboratory quality assurance systems.

EGASP is being implemented in sentinel countries: 2021 is the third year of implementation in Thailand, and the programme has been initiated in the Philippines and will soon be launched in Cambodia. Based on the experience generated, EGASP protocols and standard operating procedures (laboratory, data collection, and management) are being finalized to be used by other countries. Through the “enhanced” GASP, a treatment failure mechanism is now being established.