In May 2026, an ICARS delegation travelled to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to participate in the official launch of the Team Europe Initiative (TEI) Action: Fighting Antimicrobial Resistance and Strengthening the One Health Workforce in Africa.
Held at the headquarters of Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention on 28–29 May, the meeting brought together strategic partners including European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, African Society for Laboratory Medicine, the European Commission, and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs to strengthen coordination and collaboration around antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and health security across Africa.
The launch meeting marked an important transition from the initiative’s inception phase into implementation. Discussions focused on strengthening implementation science, AMR mitigation, workforce development, health economics, and One Health approaches to support Africa-led and evidence-informed action across the continent.
Ahead of the launch meeting, the ICARS delegation also met with senior leadership from the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to reflect on progress achieved through collaboration under the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs-supported inception phase and the broader TEI-EDCTP framework. The discussions highlighted the importance of strong institutional partnerships in supporting sustainable and locally led AMR solutions.
During the two-day meeting, ICARS shared progress across several key workstreams, including country baseline studies, antimicrobial stewardship and infection prevention programmes, health economics capacity strengthening, and implementation research initiatives. These activities form part of ICARS’ broader commitment to co-developing practical, scalable, and context-specific AMR solutions together with low- and middle-income countries.
The meeting also provided an opportunity for partners to review implementation arrangements, strengthen coordination mechanisms, and identify opportunities for future collaboration aligned with Africa CDC’s continental priorities on AMR and workforce development.
ICARS welcomed the strong commitment from Africa CDC leadership and partners to deepen collaboration and support sustainable, country-led action on AMR through a One Health approach. As highlighted in ICARS Strategy 2026-2030, partnerships remain central to ICARS’ mission of supporting context-appropriate and sustainable AMR mitigation efforts across the One Health sectors
