Targeted Action and Financing the Fight Against Antimicrobial Resistance in Asia 2025

Wastewater surveillance, for example, is emerging as an important method of monitoring AMR both regionally and globally,129 with wastewater treatment plants becoming a focal point for identifying antibiotic resistant bacteria and genes.130 Artificial intelligence is also playing an increasingly important role in helping build data analysis capabilities for disease modelling and drug discovery. Improve data collection and sharing across One Health actors Effective strategies to tackle AMR require accurate data on how pathogens and drugs interact. However, significant data gaps persist, especially in low- and middle-income countries, where stronger data collection systems and laboratory capacity are urgently needed.131 Comprehensive surveillance across regions, including data collection from non-human sources like livestock and aquaculture is crucial for132 informed policy- making and effective responses.133 Investing in cross-sectoral surveillance systems, such as FAO’s International FAO Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring (InFARM) system,134 WHO’s Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS) platform,135 and WOAH’s ANImal antiMicrobial USE (ANIMUSE) global database,136 will enhance data flow and decision-making. Strengthening national surveillance and capacity-building within the One Health framework will improve data quality and usage, supporting stronger AMR strategies. Targeted funding for these systems will not only mitigate AMR but also help secure global food security and public health . Despite global commitments to ensure multisectoral governance, less than 50% of countries have functional, multisectoral coordination committees in place.137 While coordination and information-sharing across sectors occur in some contexts in Asia, it is often within the government, across line ministries or in local government structures. The information and analysis rarely reach other stakeholders such as academia or the private sector.138 While the process of surveillance and data collection may be conducted most effectively within a sector or sub-sector, it is essential to share the resulting information across sectors. The need for cross-sector cooperation is recognized in some countries’ NAPs: for example, the Philippines has started implementing AMR monitoring programmes in the agriculture and aquaculture sectors.139 Additionally, as the country heads into the next phase of its NAP (2024-2028), there has been growing emphasis on integrating human, animal, plant and environmental policies as well.140 Targeted funding for national surveillance systems will not only mitigate AMR but also help secure global food security and public health.This sprint focuses on the vital role of AMR surveillance, which depends on the effective collection and sharing of data between actors, especially in lower-income countries. Enhance regional surveillance, data collection and data sharing CASE STUDY 7 One Health Trust and ResistanceMap Formerly known as the Centre for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (CDDEP), the One Health Trust was founded in 2010 to improve the health and well-being of the planet and its inhabitants. In relation to AMR, the One Health Trust characterizes its work as: “closing knowledge gaps, explaining the complexity of the issue, advocating for vaccination and infection prevention control to stop infections from happening in the first place and reduce demand for antibiotics and supporting the appropriate use of antibiotics through stewardship and evidence-based treatment guidelines”.141 One of the earliest initiatives that the trust implemented was the ResistanceMap, “a web-based collection of data visualization tools that allows interactive exploration of AMR and antibiotic use trends in countries across the globe”.142 The latest iteration of ResistanceMap is funded by the Gates Foundation and includes up-to-date AMR data from 46 countries and antimicrobial usage data from 76 countries, collected primarily from public and private laboratory networks in each of the countries. In addition to updated and expanded AMR data, the current iteration includes antibiotic consumption data from 76 countries from 2000-2015, obtained from IQVIA’s MIDAS and Xponent databases.143Sprint: Monitor 3 Targeted Action and Financing the Fight Against Antimicrobial Resistance in Asia 30