Antimicrobial Resistance – Activities

Addressing AMR is a shared and complex responsibility in Canada that requires full collaboration across federal departments and agencies, as well as the engagement of all provinces as territories, to address effectively. AMR is also of concern to all provincial and territorial (PT) stakeholders.

In October 2014, the Government of Canada released the Antimicrobial Resistance and Use in Canada: A Federal Framework for Action and in 2015 followed up with its Federal Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance and Use in Canada. The goal of the Framework is "To protect Canadians from the health risks related to antimicrobial resistance." It includes three pillars: Surveillance, Stewardship, and Innovation. The Framework identifies concrete Government of Canada actions to reduce the threat and impact of AMR.

The Government of Canada (led by the Public Health Agency of Canada) worked to develop a multi-sectoral Pan-Canadian Framework on AMR.

This framework document entitled, Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance and Antimicrobial Use: A Pan-Canadian Framework for Action, was released in September 2017, fulfilling Canada’s 2015 World Health Assembly commitment. The Pan-Canadian Framework builds on existing provincial, territorial and external stakeholders efforts on AMR, and bridges the human and animal health sectors towards collective action on AMR.

Work is underway to develop a Pan-Canadian Action Plan that focuses on four pillars for action: surveillance, stewardship, infection prevention and control; and, research and innovation. CIHR-III is the co-chair of the Research and Innovation group involved in the development of the Pan-Canadian AMR Action Plan.

JPIAMR

The Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance (JPIAMR) is a growing global collaborative platform, now engaging 29 countries to curb antibiotic resistance (AMR) with a One Health approach. The initiative coordinates national public funding to support transnational research and activities within the six priority areas of the shared JPIAMR Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda: therapeutics, diagnostics, surveillance, transmission, environment and interventions. CIHR is an active member and major funder of the Management Board of JPIAMR. As of 2020, JPIAMR has supported 118 projects and 1,289 researchers, with funding of approximately 101 million Euro. CIHR contributed to eight calls for up to 12 million Canadian dollars. Visit the JPIAMR website to learn more.

JPIAMR-VRI

CIHR, through III, is leading the Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance – Virtual Research Institute (JPIAMR-VRI). The JPIAMR-VRI is a virtual platform to connect research networks, and research performing institutes, centres and infrastructures beyond sectorial and geographic boundaries in a larger global network under JPIAMR topics, using a One Health approach. By connecting the global scientific community along the six priority areas of the joint Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda, the JPIAMR-VRI provides an unprecedented level of knowledge exchange, facilitates the analysis of knowledge gaps, increases capacity, improves coordination, implements breakthrough collaborative research and increases the visibility of the research performed. It bridges borders and disrupts barriers between fields of AMR research through the formation of a virtual "corridor" – facilitating alignment of strategies, and the production and sharing of scientific evidence.

The JPIAMR-VRI Digital Platform was launched on June 9, 2021. This platform is a free platform that integrates carefully selected relevant interconnected AMR-related data sources with more than 140 different public data sources already available in the DISQOVER platform, facilitating knowledge exchange and capacity development across the globe. Visit the JPIAMR-VRI website to learn more.

Global Governance Research on Infectious Disease (GGRID)

CIHR's Institute of Population & Public Health (CIHR-IPPH) and Institute of Infection and Immunity (CIHR-III) have been leading efforts to build an international network for social science research on infectious diseases that will be supported by a central coordinating hub funded by the European Commission (EC) through its Horizon 2020 Work Programme 2018-2020. The intention of the international network is for participating funders to establish support centres, initiatives, or networks within their own jurisdictions, which will then be networked internationally through the EC-funded central coordinating hub. This international network of networks will facilitate bigger and more robust social scientific inquiries that respond to the needs of global policymakers. The international network is intended to facilitate policy-relevant opportunities, networking, cross-country learning, bigger science, and knowledge translation opportunities. The CIHR Network for Global Governance Research on Infectious Diseases grant represents the Canadian contribution to the broader international network for social science research on infectious diseases.

Global AMR Research and Development Hub

In May 2018, a new, international R&D collaboration hub was launched by the G20 Health Working Group under Germany’s leadership in the field of AMR research and product development. This hub is aimed at maximizing the impact of existing and new initiatives in antimicrobial basic and clinical research as well as product development. The Global AMR R&D Hub connects funders from around the world to facilitate information exchange on funding streams, promote high-level alignment of funding, and mobilize additional resources for push and pull incentives. In March 2020, the Global AMR R&D Hub launched their Dynamic Dashboard designed to be a resource for everyone working in the field of antibiotic R&D to support evidenced-based decision making on where efforts and resources may be best allocated. The Dynamic Dashboard continuously collects and presents information on AMR R&D investments, products in the pipeline and push and pull incentives across three galleries so that the most up-to-date information can be used to inform decision making. Alongside Germany, the Public Health Agency of Canada is vice-chairing the Board of the Hub, with input from CIHR on human health research considerations for Canada.

TATFAR

CIHR is a member of the Transatlantic Taskforce on Antimicrobial Resistance (TATFAR) as the human health research expertise. TATFAR was created in 2009 to address the urgent threat of AMR. Collaboration across government agencies from Canada, the European Union, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States enhances synergy and communication, leading to strengthened domestic and global efforts. TAFTAR’s key focus areas are to improve antibiotic use in humans and animals; to prevent infections and their spread and to strengthen the drug pipeline.