Latest JPIAMR Newsletter

That there is a need for collaboration in the field of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is becoming more and more evident. For example, at the launch of the Antimicrobial Research Collaborative – a multidisciplinary project at Imperial College London, UK– the UK’s chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies said ‘not enough’ is being done to prevent drug-resistant infections spreading through hospitals. Leading researchers at the event called for greater collaboration to tackle AMR. This reflects that the Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance (JPIAMR)’s approach is what is needed.

Dame Sally Davies also emphasised, when she spoke at the JPIAMR-MRC-SINet transmission dynamics workshop, that the challenge of AMR is too large for any one nation to tackle alone but that we need initiatives like the JPIAMR. Collaboration which maximises on existing research resources and expertise will allow us to tackle AMR from a One Health approach. In addition, joining forces across national borders and under one strategic research agenda will allow focused actions in areas of unmet needs.

The JPIAMR is working hard to be successful. In this issue you can read about some of the calls and workshops we are organising. These are steps towards taking the fight against AMR from discussion to action.

Read the Newsletter

In a publication containing best practice examples on tackling antimicrobial resistance from G7 countries, JPIAMR is being highlighted. The publication presents some of the existing experience in combating antimicrobial resistance other countries might benefit from. At the World Health Assembly in May 2015 Member States of the WHO committed to develop national action plans on AMR within two years. This best practice brochure aims to contribute to the further development and implementation of the respective national action plans on antimicrobial resistance.

The Joint Efforts to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) formulated in the annex of the Leadersʼ Declaration of the G7 Summit in June 2015 summarize the crucial steps to meet this challenge. Among them is the necessity to identify and share best practice examples, providing information on existing programs as well as most successful strategies to prevent avoidable infections and promote the responsible use of antibiotics.

The publication calls for all countries to increase their efforts: They must further develop their concepts and strategies, and expand their measures already in use.

Read the publication.

The European Commission has published  Guidelines aimed to prevent the overuse and misuse of antibiotics by sharing best-practices in Member States.  These guidelines are one of the key deliverables in the EU action plan on AMR. They provide Member States’ authorities, farmers and veterinarians with practical examples of what is being done in other EU countries to promote the prudent use of antimicrobials in veterinary medicine. Such measures can contribute to the control of AMR also in human medicine.

Read the guidelines.

The Nordic Council of Ministers have agreed to take a joint stance against antibiotic resistance through increased regional co-operation.

The declaration will establish a Nordic “One Health” strategic group of senior officials that can support exchange of best practice and ensure an efficient use of the Nordic resources in the areas of antimicrobial resistance and use of antimicrobials. The strategic group will further elaborate on ways to use the Nordic collaboration to support the global processes and in doing so stressing the importance of:

• National action plans which incorporate the “One Health” perspective.
•  The need for effective hygiene, sanitation and prevention guidelines.
• Support mechanisms that stimulate controlled and prudent use of antimicrobials.
• Identification and elimination of economic incentives in all sectors that encourage inappropriate use of antimicrobial agents, and introduction of incentives to optimize use.
• Improving awareness and understanding of antimicrobial resistance.
• Surveillance of antimicrobial resistance and the use of antimicrobials in humans and animals.
• The development of preventive measures and alternative means to the use of antimicrobials that may contribute to prudent use in humans and animals and reduction in antimicrobial resistance development.

Read the Declaration in English.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) adopted a resolution on antimicrobial resistance and the use of antibiotics in animals in June 2015. The resolution calls upon FAO to ensure that the organisation is actively engaged and coordinated in promoting the work on combating AMR and to strengthen the tripartite collaboration between FAO, WHO and OIE to combat AMR in the spirit of a One Health Approach. Strongly supporting the ongoing work of FAO to assess the evidence of antimicrobial resistance in food and agriculture systems, identify knowledge gaps and provide recommendations for effectively combating AMR, the Resolution further requests FAO to actively support and provide capacity building as appropriate in those areas pertinent to combating AMR and to support implementation of the Global Action Plan on AMR.

JPIAMR warmly welcomes this Resolution and FAO’s commitment to the One Health approach.

More information on the FAO’s resolution and its work on antimicrobial resistance can be found here.

Online mapping tool and new CDDEP report show rise in drug-resistant infections and antibiotic use; CDDEP calls for prioritization of drug conservation over new R&D efforts

MWASHINGTON, D.C. and NEW DELHI (17 September 2015) — Researchers at the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (CDDEP) released new data today documenting alarming rates of bacteria resistant to last-resort antibiotics that can lead to life-threatening infections across the world. Though wealthy countries still use far more antibiotics per capita, high rates in the low- and middle-income countries where surveillance data is now available—such as India, Kenya, and Vietnam—sound a warning to the world. For example, in India, 57 percent of the infections caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae, a dangerous superbug found in hospitals, were found to be resistant to one type of last-resort drug in 2014, up from 29 percent in 2008. For comparison, these drugs, known as carbapenems, are still effective against Klebsiella infections in 90 percent of cases in the United States and over 95 percent of cases in most of Europe.

The findings were released via CDDEP’s ResistanceMap, an interactive online tool that allows users to track the latest global trends in drug resistance in 39 countries, and antibiotic use in 69 countries. It includes infections caused by 12 common and potentially deadly bacteria, including Escherichia coli (E. coli), Salmonella, and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). This is the first time data from a significant number of developing countries have been brought together publicly.

CDDEP also issued the first report to look comprehensively at the current state of global antibiotic use and drug resistance in humans, livestock and the environment. The report, The State of the World’s Antibiotics, 2015, lays out six strategies that belong in every national plan to halt the spread of resistance. Report authors say antibiotic stewardship is the key component of that action, and they challenge the frequently-cited notion that the problem with antibiotic resistance is a lack of new drugs in the antibiotic pipeline.

Link to full text

Link to full report

We are pleased to announce that on 17 November 2015 in Paris, JPIAMR and the French Ministry of Health is organising an Intergovernmental Workshop in the area of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). At the workshop, invited representatives from ministries, agencies, and funding bodies will come together to:

• understand the remit of ministries and agencies toward AMR,
• discuss ways to add value to new and existing programmes of work through cooperation and coordination within and between countries and,
• discuss the challenges associated with transnational funding.

In most countries, multiple ministries and agencies are involved in the area of AMR with different funding mechanisms and scientific remits. In order to bring these ministries and agencies together to discuss the problem of AMR, the French ministry of health and JPIAMR are jointly organising this innovative workshop to discuss, support, and strengthen alignment within and between countries.

Science Europe has published a position statement on the role and future of joint programming where they recommend that greater focus on impact should be the future of joint programming. JPIAMR welcome this approach where the emphasis is on impact, developing critical mass and contributing to advancing specific fields of knowledge by aligning resources and research agendas rather than only aligning research funding through for example joint funding and joint calls.

The organisation outlines that the rationale driving policy decisions related to JPIs should be based on real scientific impacts such as:

• Linking up of the whole research and innovation eco-system around a topic.
• Devising Strategic Research Agendas to enable the identification of areas where an actual added value for alignment exists.
• Act as focal points – both nationally and internationally – for policy, initiatives or stakeholders that otherwise may not have a ‘counterpart’ on the topic to allow topical communities to speak with one voice, and more generally raise the profile of their area.
• Foster alignment of data definition, collection, handling and storage, facilitating their sharing to push the knowledge frontier.
• Facilitate the sharing of research facilities and resources, by making formal arrangements or by alerting researchers to relevant existing resources in other countries.
• Influence the European policy agenda, by organising and structuring ERANETs or by having an impact on the Horizon 2020 research agenda.
• Develop global networks of top European teams.

JPIAMR is committed to achieving greater impact through international coordination and exchange around AMR.

Download the report here