ICARS representatives, Erica Westwood and Sarah von Humboldt-Scotland, travelled to Thailand, Malaysia, and Lao PDR in May 2026 to engage with project teams, review progress across multiple antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and gender and equity (GE) initiatives, and strengthen regional collaboration on implementation and intervention research.
The visits highlighted growing momentum across Southeast Asia to develop context-specific AMR solutions that integrate community engagement, gender and equity (GE) considerations, behavioural approaches, and innovation across human and animal health systems.
Across the three countries, ICARS teams met with researchers, government stakeholders, students, and farming communities working on AMR projects spanning aquaculture, pig farming, pharmaceutical practice, and climate change.
Accessible games for participatory learning in Thailand
In Chiang Mai, Thailand, ICARS observed a “Train the Farm Manager” workshop led by Chiang Mai University and additional research partners to integrate GE considerations into an AMR-pig farming project, funded under Innovet.AMR 2.0 (a four-year partnership between Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the United Kingdom’s Department of Health and Social Care). The workshop showcased a series of innovative educational tools designed to strengthen awareness of antimicrobial use, farm management practices and AMR in pig production systems, including:
- an interactive snakes and ladders-style board game
- card-based learning activities
- an online learning course incorporating dedicated GE content
The participatory workshop brought together university experts, facilitators, and farm managers through discussion-based learning activities that encouraged active dialogue and peer exchange.
Discussions during the visit also explored future implementation research opportunities and policy dissemination focused on adapting and scaling the educational outputs to different farming and production contexts, while continuing to strengthen GE integration and accessibility.
Supporting innovation and interdisciplinary collaboration in Malaysia
In Malaysia, ICARS visited Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and shrimp farming sites to understand progress across two ICARS-supported projects addressing AMR in aquaculture, one focusing on GE and the other on climate change.
A key component of the visit focused on collaboration with the InnoVet-AMR 2.0 team, which is exploring the use of a probiotic with quorum-sensing inhibition (QSI) properties. ICARS is supporting gender and equity integration to ensure that future innovations in shrimp farming respond to population needs and support uptake amongst those using the innovation in communities. Project teams shared preliminary findings from the Malaysian context, examining how labour divisions, access to AMR-related resources, and farm responsibilities shape antimicrobial use practices and aquaculture management. Separate focus group discussions for male and female workers were conducted, with gender-balanced research teams across all sites.
The focus-group discussions provided important insights into the often less visible role of women within shrimp farming systems. While women were more commonly involved in laboratory and hatchery-related activities rather than farm management roles, the findings suggested they held substantial knowledge relating to shrimp health and production conditions. The discussions also highlighted how decision-making authority was largely concentrated among male farm managers, as well as gaps in access to training and information for both female and male farm workers, including migrant workers and small-scale farmers.
The visit also highlighted opportunities for stronger collaboration across UPM departments working on shrimp aquaculture from different disciplinary perspectives, with cross-project discussions to strengthen knowledge exchange among teams working on climate change, GE, and aquaculture innovation. In addition, discussions explored future opportunities for implementation research, dissemination activities, and potential scale-up pathways.
Strengthening pharmaceutical stewardship systems in Lao PDR
In Lao PDR, ICARS had a short visit with project partners and researchers in Vientiane to review progress on a project focused on improving Good Pharmaceutical Practice (GPP) implementation and antimicrobial stewardship in community pharmacies, and to do final preparations ahead of starting a pharmacist training intervention. Project activities are being conducted across multiple provinces and include knowledge, attitudes and practices surveys, mystery client exercises, qualitative interviews, and economic assessments examining the practical and financial implications of implementing GPP standards and improving antimicrobial dispensing.
The Lao project also highlighted broader structural challenges affecting pharmacy stewardship systems, including the complex relationship between pharmacy ownership and professional decision-making, as well as the need for stronger public understanding of pharmacies as part of the wider health system.
Building regional partnerships for sustainable AMR action
Across all three visits, a common theme emerged around the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration, locally led implementation research, and participatory engagement approaches that are responsive to gender and equity dynamics in strengthening AMR mitigation efforts.
The visits also reinforced the growing collaboration between ICARS and IDRC in Southeast Asia, particularly in projects integrating AMR mitigation with broader perspectives, including climate change and GE.
“The progress across these projects highlights the central value of gender and equity integration in AMR intervention development and implementation, showcasing how this perspective can support interventions to be more appropriate to local populations and cultural contexts, and in the long-term contributing to interventions with stronger uptake and impact.” – Erica Westwood, Senior Science Advisor, ICARS
As part of ICARS’ ongoing efforts to support implementation and intervention research across low- and middle-income countries, these visits help translate evidence into sustainable action across the One Health spectrum. They also reflect ICARS’ continued commitment to highlighting why GE must remain central to effective AMR responses.
