On February 9, 2025, ICARS co-hosted a pre-conference meeting alongside the East Central and Southern Africa Health Community (ECSA-HC) 74th Health Ministers Conference in Lilongwe, Malawi. The meeting, titled ‘Transforming Political Commitments on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Into Action’, was held under the theme ‘Driving Change: High-Level Commitments, Grassroots Actions’. Funded by Wellcome as part of their partnership with ICARS on interventions to improve antibiotic stewardship, the pre-conference meeting brought together approximately 60 participants.
The meeting hosted by ECSA-HC, gathered representatives from member countries, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Lesotho, Eswatini, and Mauritius. Additionally, experts and stakeholders from other African countries, WHO, FAO, and organisations such as ECHO and ReAct Africa (co-hosts), contributed to the discussions.
The key topics addressed during the pre-conference meeting included:
- Advocacy and education to elevate awareness of AMR
- Advancing One Health collaborations to strengthen cross-sectoral coordination
- Mainstreaming gender norms and equity into AMR National Action Plans (NAPs)
- Strengthening research and innovation to accelerate AMR solutions
Dr Sujith J. Chandy, Executive Director, ICARS, gives keynote address.
As a result of these discussions, six key recommendations were formulated and presented to Health Ministers during the main conference for policy action:
- Increase regional and domestic financing of AMR and IPC interventions, with a commitment for each member state to allocate domestic funding by 2030
- Strengthen regional education and training on AMR and IPC through the establishment of a One Health regional learning hub
- Integrate the WHO minimum standards for IPC programmes, WASH, and AMS into national quality of care and accreditation standards
- Expand capacity for surveillance to support AMR, healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial consumption monitoring
- Mainstream gender norms and equity in the implementation of AMR NAPs
- Enforce the regulation of antimicrobials and diagnostics across public and private sectors
These critical recommendations were formally submitted to Health Ministers during the ECSA-HC 74th Health Ministers Conference, held from February 10-12, 2025, for policy adoption and implementation within their respective countries. The ministers endorsed these recommendations, marking a significant step forward in the collective effort to combat AMR in the region.
