As part of the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), global leaders convened for the second High-Level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) . The leaders approved a political declaration with clear targets and actions, including a 10% reduction in human deaths related to bacterial AMR – estimated at 4.95 million annually – by 2030.
To advance this agenda, the declaration includes a commitment to "ensure, by 2030, that all countries have developed or updated and are implementing multisectoral national action plans on antimicrobial resistance".These plans, aligned with the WHO Global Action Plan on AMR, are tailored to each country's specific context, leveraging existing health-care infrastructure and resources.
To support the development, revision and implementation of national action plans (NAPs), the WHO Evidence-informed Policy Network (EVIPNet) is implementing a project in partnership with the International Vaccine Institute's Regional AMR Data Analysis for Advocacy, Response and Policy (RADAAR). Funded by the UK Aid's Fleming Fund, the EVIPNet RADAAR project aims to promote country capacities to develop evidence-informed policies, with a focus on four countries: Bhutan, Ghana, Kenya and the Lao People's Democratic Republic.
This project equips countries with several key tools from the EVIPNet approach to address AMR challenges. The process begins with a priority-setting exercise on a critical AMR issue, followed by a thorough situation analysis, and culminates in the development of an Evidence Brief for Policy (EBP) for each country. These EBPs will then inform policy dialogues, with the insights disseminated through targeted advocacy efforts.
The initiative aims to strengthen country teams' expertise in knowledge translation and evidence-informed policymaking while also establishing dedicated units for knowledge translation. These units will provide sustained support, specifically facilitating the use of evidence in priority AMR policies and the effective implementation of NAPs.
The project launched with a webinar on 10 October 2024, bringing together representatives from all participating countries. On 17 October 2024, EVIPNet facilitated an online workshop on priority-setting. The first in-person workshop was held in Bhutan from 29–31 October 2024, with similar in-person workshops planned in the coming months for Ghana, Kenya and Lao People's Democratic Republic.
