ICARS’ Annual Partners Meeting: Summary conclusions

On October 3rd, 2023, ICARS had the pleasure of hosting its first Annual Partners Meeting. This event brought together our Low- and Middle-Income Country (LMIC) partners, Funding Partners, Mission Partners and Implementation Partners for an insightful exchange on topics of key importance to prevent and mitigate antimicrobial resistance (AMR). This will be the first of many meetings aimed at providing a platform for the collective sharing of experiences and perspectives in mitigating AMR.

The Annual Partners Meeting was Chaired by ICARS’ Executive Director, Dr Sujith J Chandy, and moderated by ICARS’ Head of Partnerships and Stakeholder Engagement, Dr Ghada Zoubiane. The strong turnout underscored the shared commitment of ICARS and its partners in their efforts to sustainably address AMR. The meeting began with introductory remarks from ICARS’ Dr Robert Leo Skov, Scientific Director, and Ms Helle Engslund Krarup, Director of Operations, who provided insights into ICARS’ comprehensive approach and progress since its inception in 2019. Mr Svend Særkjær, Permanent Secretary for the Danish Ministry for the Interior and Health, underscored Denmark’s continued commitment to ICARS and the shared responsibility in addressing AMR as a global development challenge. The participants then presented and shared their perspectives on the following topics:

1. What are the enablers and barriers for advancing sustainable implementation of AMR National Action Plans (NAPs).
2. How stakeholders can work collaboratively to reinforce efforts for sustainable implementation of AMR solutions.
3. How to secure more funding to advance sustainable implementation of AMR solutions.