Updates from the International Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance Solutions

ICARS is pleased to announce the establishment of its new regional presence, ICARS Africa. Funded through its partnership with Wellcome, ICARS Africa will be hosted by Amref Health Africa at its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. The establishment of ICARS Africa marks a significant step in the organisation’s commitment to supporting low-and middle-income countries (LMIC) across the continent to mitigate antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

A new collaboration between the Global Strategy Lab’s AMR Policy Accelerator and ICARS aims to help accelerate the progress in the development and implementation of national action plans in LMICs. The agreement strengthens the shared commitment to supporting LMICs in developing and implementing evidence-informed AMR policies grounded in a One Health approach.

ICARS is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Joseph Yamweka Chizimu, National Antimicrobial Resistance Coordinator and Focal Point at the Zambia National Public Health Institute, to its Board of Directors. Dr Chizimu is our first Board Member representing an ICARS low- and middle-income country Mission Partner.

In Vietnam, a project integrates real-time monitoring, AI-driven risk prediction, and biological interventions to help small-scale aquaculture farmers reduce antimicrobial use and greenhouse gas emissions.

In Malaysia, a project introduces a combined synbiotic feed enhancer and IoT-based monitoring system to help shrimp farmers reduce antibiotic dependence, improve disease resilience, and promote sustainable aquaculture practices.

In the Philippines, a project aims to strengthen AMR mitigation in Philippine aquaculture by combining hatchery-level AMU/AMR surveillance with climate-informed analysis and a pilot intervention.

In October 2025, ICARS attended the official launch of the ‘Constructed wetlands for mitigating Antimicrobial Resistance in reclaimed water used for the irrigation of food crops’ (CARMA) project in Sousse, Tunisia. The CARMA project uses constructed wetlands as a nature-based solution to reduce antibiotic residues, antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, and resistant genes in wastewater commonly used for irrigation.

In September 2025, an ICARS delegation travelled to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to attend a two-day national workshop on strengthening antimicrobial stewardship (AMS), which included the launch of the ICARS-supported AMS HICAP project. The workshop was inaugurated by H.E. Minister of Health, Professor Chheang Ra, underscoring Cambodia’s strong national commitment to addressing AMR, signalling political support for the new project, and generating wider attention in the national media.

In October, ICARS travelled to Bangalore, India to participate in the Grand Jury for the final selection of innovators responding to the joint ICARS–C-CAMP Call for Proposals for solutions to mitigate AMR. Launched in July, the Call received nearly 100 proposals, with 26 shortlisted for detailed review by sectoral panels on Human Health, Animal Health, and the Environment.

The ICARS-supported project, working to advance vaccine uptake to mitigate antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the Philippines, held two key events in late November to strengthen integration of AMR and vaccine strategies: a roundtable discussion among professional physician societies and city health officers, and a community-based immunisation drive targeting senior citizens.

In late November, a delegation from ICARS travelled to Nairobi, Kenya, to participate in the African Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) Special Convention on Diagnostics, host a regional stakeholder engagement workshop, and hold bilateral meetings with other key regional partners based in Kenya. The visit formed part of ICARS’ broader effort to strengthen collaboration with African institutions and support countries in addressing AMR through implementation research and evidence-based interventions.

From 20–23 October 2025, ICARS and FAO co-hosted the regional workshop “Leaving no one behind in AMR research, policy and practice: integrating gender and equity in AMR One Health solutions” in Bangkok, Thailand. The workshop and ICARS Day fostered collaboration, identified shared indicators, and strengthened networks to ensure One Health solutions are inclusive, effective, and sustainable.

In October 2025, ICARS visited Ghana and Kenya to support the One Health and Development Initiative (OHDI) and their partners Ducit Blue and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (Ghana) in the facilitation of two workshops. Both sessions piloted the Sustainable Impact Resource Guide and Toolkit, including the 11 tools designed for use by project teams.

In November, ICARS staff joined 25 human and animal health experts from 10 countries participating in a three-week course run by the University of Copenhagen, titled “Policy development and implementation of interventions to control antimicrobial resistance (AMR)”. ICARS staff took part in laboratory exercises, presented examples from our project portfolio, and facilitated group work and discussions.

On 7 November 2025, ICARS-supported project teams participated in the 4th Academic Public Health Conference of the Lao Public Health Association in Vientiane Capital, Lao PDR. Under the theme “Challenges and Achievement of Sustainable Development Goals related to health in Lao PDR”, the conference convened stakeholders from across the country to discuss and celebrate solutions to national health challenges.

This report summarises the key discussions and presentations from ICARS’ Annual Partners Meeting 2025, which took place virtually on Wednesday, 29th October. Under the theme “From evidence to implementation and beyond: AMR solutions for sustainable impact”, the meeting included updates from ICARS and partners since the last annual meeting and a thematic session on sustainable impact.

ICARS’ Executive Director, Dr Sujith J. Chandy, argues why, in a time of shrinking global resources and rising challenges, efforts to address AMR must do more with less, implementing tailored and affordable solutions that deliver sustainable impact where it matters most.

This paper provides the first assessment of biosecurity implementation in commercial layer farms in Tanzania. Findings show that biosecurity implementations were largely influenced by education level, scale of production, and farming experience, underscoring the need for tailored, evidence-based policies to strengthen biosecurity and improve poultry health and productivity.

This personal view, published in The Lancet Infectious Diseases, argues that blood cultures must be recognised and supported primarily as core patient-centred diagnostic tools, not merely as sources of aggregated data for AMR reporting. The article highlights that facilities that use their own blood culture data to guide clinical decision making are more likely to have improved patient outcomes, stronger antimicrobial stewardship, and more meaningful, sustainable AMR surveillance.