On February 9, 2025, ICARS co-hosted a pre-conference meeting alongside the East Central and Southern Africa Health Community (ECSA-HC) 74th Health Ministers Conference in Lilongwe, Malawi. The meeting, titled ‘Transforming Political Commitments on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Into Action’, was held under the theme ‘Driving Change: High-Level Commitments, Grassroots Actions’. Funded by Wellcome as part of their partnership with ICARS on interventions to improve antibiotic stewardship, the pre-conference meeting brought together approximately 60 participants.
The meeting hosted by ECSA-HC, gathered representatives from member countries, Â Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Lesotho, Eswatini, and Mauritius. Additionally, experts and stakeholders from other African countries, WHO, FAO, and organisations such as ECHO and ReAct Africa (co-hosts), contributed to the discussions.
The key topics addressed during the pre-conference meeting included:
- Advocacy and education to elevate awareness of AMR
- Advancing One Health collaborations to strengthen cross-sectoral coordination
- Mainstreaming gender norms and equity into AMR National Action Plans (NAPs)
- Strengthening research and innovation to accelerate AMR solutions
Dr Sujith J. Chandy, Executive Director, ICARS, gives keynote address.
As a result of these discussions, six key recommendations were formulated and presented to Health Ministers during the main conference for policy action:
- Increase regional and domestic financing of AMR and IPC interventions, with a commitment for each member state to allocate domestic funding by 2030
- Strengthen regional education and training on AMR and IPC through the establishment of a One Health regional learning hub
- Integrate the WHO minimum standards for IPC programmes, WASH, and AMS into national quality of care and accreditation standards
- Expand capacity for surveillance to support AMR, healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial consumption monitoring
- Mainstream gender norms and equity in the implementation of AMR NAPs
- Enforce the regulation of antimicrobials and diagnostics across public and private sectors
These critical recommendations were formally submitted to Health Ministers during the ECSA-HC 74th Health Ministers Conference, held from February 10-12, 2025, for policy adoption and implementation within their respective countries. The ministers endorsed these recommendations, marking a significant step forward in the collective effort to combat AMR in the region.
