Updated closing date: Tuesday 1 November 2022 9:00 AM CET
WHO is calling for expert contributions to the development of the Global Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Research Agenda in human health.
The target audience for this consultation is researchers, program managers and implementers, or policy-makers with expertise in AMR globally.
WHO calls for contributions from AMR experts globally to:
- Review the list of research questions identified through the scoping review and propose individual research questions for removal, if they meet the provided exclusion criteria.
- Propose one research question for addition if there are important gaps and in line with the provided inclusion criteria.
The input received through this exercise will contribute to preparing a final list of research questions for prioritization.
Objectives of the AMR Research Agenda
The development of a research agenda on AMR is part of the WHO mandate “to promote health research and promote co-operation among scientific and professional groups that contribute to the advancement of public health” (1). In line with this mandate, the AMR Research Agenda aims to generate critical evidence to improve prevention, control and response strategies to tackle AMR in human health. Specifically, it aims to:
- Identify and prioritize research questions on AMR with the objective to build the evidence on the burden and determinants of AMR, interventions that are associated with improved AMR prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care, and the best ways to deliver these interventions.
- Catalyze investment and scientific interest among researchers, donors, and public health professionals.
Scope of the AMR Research Agenda
The AMR Research Agenda is global in its scope, focuses on AMR in the human health sector, and specifically on infections caused by common resistant bacteria (i.e. WHO priority pathogen list), critical fungi and MDR-TB. Resistance to HIV and malaria is out of scope.
It aims to ultimately prioritize AMR research ideas that can generate evidence by 2030, in line with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and that are likely to be translated into health policies.
Ultimately, this work aims for investments in AMR research to be balanced and diversified across the prioritized research questions (i.e., not focusing on one or a few high-risk/expensive research ideas).
Of note is that this AMR Research Agenda is complementary to the WHO One Health Priority Research Agenda for AMR, which focuses on research questions at the interface between humans, animals, plants, and their shared environment.
Methodology
The research agenda aims to provide a global and transparent assessment and prioritization of research questions in the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care of AMR in the human health sector according to an adapted Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative (CHNRI) methodology (2) with three key steps:
Step 1. A scoping review, which identified over 2,300 knowledge gaps on AMR in human health consolidated in a set of research questions, spanning 13 thematic areas (3): 1) AMR awareness and education; 2) AMR burden and drivers; 3) Antimicrobial use and consumption; 4) Antimicrobials/antibiotic stewardship; 5) Diagnosis/diagnostics; 6) Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH); 7) Infection, Prevention and Control (IPC); 8) Immunization; 9) Policies and regulations; 10) Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB); 11) Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs); 12) Fungi; and 13) Food-borne diseases.
Step 2. A review of the completeness of the identified research questions by the WHO Expert Group on AMR and through a global AMR expert consultation.
Step 3. Scoring of the consolidated list of research questions for prioritization by the WHO Expert Group according to pre-defined criteria.
References:
- World Health Organization. (2015). Sixty-eighth World Health Assembly. Provisional agenda item 15.1 (A68/20). Antimicrobial resistance. Draft global action plan on antimicrobial resistance. https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA68/A68_20-en.pdf.
- Rudan I, Gibson JL, Ameratunga S, El Arifeen S, Bhutta ZA, Black M et al. Setting priorities in global child health research investments: Guidelines for implementation of CHNRI method. Croat Med J. 2008;49:720-33. doi: 10.3325/cmj.2008.49.720.
- Hamers RL, Cassini A, Asadinia KS, Bertagnolio S. Developing a priority global research agenda for antimicrobial resistance in the human health sector: protocol for a scoping review. BMJ Open. 2022 Jun 2;12(6):e060553. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-060553. PMID: 35654465; PMCID: PMC9163534.