Alere Inc, have formed an educational partnership with the Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics (APUA) to expand the impact of Alere's new Test Target Treat™ campaign website.

APUA will provide non-commercial, expert educational material for Alere's antimicrobial stewardship initiative. The information is designed to combat antimicrobial resistance by educating healthcare professionals on the importance of rapid diagnostics to make more targeted treatment decisions and the need for antimicrobial stewardship to reduce antibiotic resistance.

As antimicrobial stewards, both APUA and Alere seek to use the Test Target Treat™ initiative as a vehicle to improve appropriate antimicrobial use by promoting the optimal antimicrobial drug regimen, dose, duration of therapy and path of administration. This common goal enables an ideal partnership. Additionally, the Test Target Treat™ campaign reinforces the fact that antibiotics are over-prescribed in 50% of all cases and that treating viral infections with antibiotic therapies contributes significantly to patient mortality and rising healthcare costs.

The Test Target Treat™ educational program emphasizes the value of rapid diagnostics to enable healthcare practitioners distinguish between infections that require treatment and those that are self-limiting. Test Target Treat™, supported by APUA clinical monographs, case studies and webinars on antibiotic stewardship and diagnostic strategies, will help clinicians identify pathogens at the point of care and define appropriate treatment plans for Strep A, RSV, influenza, S. pneumoniae, MRSA and C. difficile infections. The APUA non-commercial, educational material, developed by APUA experts for dissemination on the Test Target Treat™ website, is supported by an unrestricted educational grant from Alere.

The new website will broaden the distribution of APUA's standard non-commercial messages and will boost global awareness of antibiotic resistance and effective interventions. The APUA materials will provide guidance on important drug resistance interventions such as antibiotic stewardship, diagnostics and infection control.

To learn more about Alere's Test Target Treat™ initiative and to review the educational material developed by APUA, please visit the campaign's website at www.TestTargetTreat.com.