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Summary
Antimicrobial resistance is among the most serious global health challenges, requiring international collaboration and coordination of research efforts.

Addressing antimicrobial resistance on a global scale

The growing problem of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) threatens to reduce our ability to effectively treat human and veterinary infectious diseases, as well as plant diseases. It represents a major threat to human, animal, and plant health and undermines the safety of our food systems and the environment.

This global and complex problem requires comprehensive and innovative solutions. The Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance (JPIAMR), a multi-donor funding platform, was established in 2011 to address AMR at the international level and increase the impact of public research through more effective, efficient, and aligned investments. The expansion of research to low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) has become more important over the years, and funding agencies that strongly support LMICs, such as IDRC, have been invited to join the initiative.

IDRC’s engagement

IDRC is working with JPIAMR to coordinate funding for research and action. JPIAMR currently engages 28 nations and the European Commission by coordinating national research funding and supporting collaborative action to fill knowledge gaps.

Through JPIAMR, IDRC partners with national research councils, bilateral donors, and foundations to fund innovative research projects on diagnostics and surveillance strategies, as well as tools and technologies that can be used to detect and monitor AMR in human, veterinary, and environmental settings, particularly in LMICs.

To date, IDRC has supported JPIAMR’s call on diagnostics and surveillance for countries in Asia and provided CA$2 million in support of interventions to prevent or reduce the development and transmission of AMR in Southeast Asia.

Addressing AMR in low- and middle-income countries

Despite the recent increase in global concern and funding on AMR, current efforts and policies are mainly suited to high-income country contexts where food production and medical systems are highly regulated. These efforts continue to be largely disconnected from the practices and conditions of LMICs, particularly in unregulated and densely populated animal-human environments where the risk of AMR emergence is more difficult to control. In these countries, IDRC’s efforts and experience are important to expand AMR research to LMICs and to find comprehensive and innovative solutions to improve human and animal health.

Through this engagement, IDRC supports researchers in LMICs to better understand the risk factors and facilitators for AMR and to identify locally relevant and sustainable interventions, thus providing a much-needed research contribution to global efforts.

For more information, visit the JPIAMR website.

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Perspectives

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A photo of author Samuel Oji Oti
Author(s):
Samuel Oji Oti
Sarah Czunyi

Partners

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