Africa Report

Moderated by Mirfin Mpundu (ReAct Africa & ICARS) and Esmita Charani (Imperial College, London) the aim of the Africa regional session was to understand progress of the AMR agenda in African nations. The session focused on the challenges preventing action plan implementation and solutions for overcoming them.

In November 2021, ICARS was proud to partner with Wellcome Trust, the Fleming Fund, UN Foundation, UNICEF, World Bank and the governments of Colombia, Denmark, Ghana, Indonesia, Thailand and Zambia, to organise the Third Call to Action on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Conference. The event brought together global stakeholders – policymakers, civil society organisations, professionals, academics, and the private sector – across all regions of the world, to discuss solutions and invigorate action to tackle AMR. With a focus on sharing lessons learned from low- and middle-income countries, the conference provided concrete examples of how to successfully prioritise and implement AMR National Action Plans (NAPs) during a time of significant pressure on healthcare systems and competing priorities.

This report, developed by ICARS, synthesises the rich discussions and key themes emerging from the Africa regional session at the conference. We hope that the content is a useful resource for others working in the region, who can take forward the lessons learnt to support national action to mitigate AMR in their countries. Special thanks to Dr. Philip Mathew, Dr. Mirfin Mpundu and Dr. Esmita Charani for their work putting together this session’s report.