IMPACT AMR: a Transdisciplinary Network

IMPACT AMR is a transdisciplinary network of national and international researchers and stakeholders seeking to address key policy questions around antimicrobial resistance (AMR) mitigation investment priorities through the development of an evaluation framework to compare the impact and attributes of mitigation interventions. There is rising attention to the problem of AMR and political impetus to mitigate it, however currently there is little to guide decision-makers about which of the many interventions to address AMR, across multiple sectors and domains, will be best to invest in to reduce the AMR burden most effectively, feasibly, acceptably and economically.

We address the need to establish consensus on key AMR impact metrics as a basis for developing intervention priorities across all One Health (i.e. human, animal, and environmental) settings. In methodological terms we draw on experience and learning in other complex policy spheres, and climate change mitigation in particular. The network will work with the AMR community and wider stakeholders to collate evidence to evaluate the technical, economic, behavioural, social and policy effectiveness, feasibility and acceptability of existing AMR interventions. A systematic approach to evaluate interventions with these criteria would not normally be possible, and requires the opportunity for transdisciplinary working, which extends beyond the boundaries of academia to bring science into conversation with policy, publics, civil society, industry, farmers, food manufacturers, water industry and health practitioners. The evaluations put forward by the multi-stakeholder groups and desk reviews will be set in an evolving appraisal framework that will cumulate data across different domains, including (a) optimising antimicrobial use, (b) managing infection without antimicrobial use, (c) preventing infection and (d) minimizing antimicrobial pollution. The network activities will take place across four workstreams which...