The International Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance Solutions

ICARS Quarterly Newsletter, Issue No. 19, October 2025 Read news and updates from the International Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance Solutions

The latest ICARS newsletter is out now!

Packed with the latest updates on:
🌍 Global partnerships & engagements
💡 Innovative initiatives
🧪 Project implementation highlights
🌱 New climate-focused projects
📚 Useful resources
📣 Read and share ➡️ bit.ly/4oaQLLT
#AntimicrobialResistance #OneHealth #AMR

📕 Today’s #MondayRead reviews the use of antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs) in South Africa’s poultry industry, examining their its role in driving antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and the challenges of moving towards AGP-free production.

🔗Full article: bit.ly/3KXb8O8

#AMR #AnimalHealth

Cambodia launches ICARS-supported AMS HICAP Project – ICARS In September 2025, an ICARS delegation travelled to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, to attend a two-day national workshop on strengthening antimicrobial stewardship (AMS), which included the launch of the ICARS...

📍In September, ICARS travelled to Phnom Penh, to attend a two-day national workshop on strengthening #AMS and launch the ICARS-supported AMS HICAP project.

🏥The project will introduce hospital-based AMS programmes in six hospitals, generating evidence to support national scale-up. bit.ly/3WkNBcs

📍 ICARS co-hosted the ReAct Asia Pacific Conference in Jakarta, Sept 2025—advancing One Health AMR action. From pre-conference exchanges to panels & posters, we connected diverse voices & built collaborations for sustainable AMR solutions. 🌏🤝 #AMR #OneHealth

Read more ➡️ bit.ly/42gY9wN

Understanding how veterinarians’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices influence antibiotic prescription: a systematic review of survey studies - BMC Veterinary Research Introduction The misuse and/or overuse of antibiotics in animals has been a subject of concern due to the intensification of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Veterinarians are at the front line of antibiotic prescription and their decision-making process is impacted by several non-clinical factors. The aim of this systematic review was to identify and understand how veterinarians’ attitudes, knowledge, perceptions, and experience influence antibiotic prescription practices. Methods We systematically searched MEDLINE/PubMed, Web of Knowledge, and CAB International databases. Quantitative and mixed methods studies with veterinary graduates were included, with no time restrictions. Articles written in English, Spanish, and Portuguese were considered. Quality assessment was performed with JBI’s cross-sectional critical appraisal tool. Results Our search retrieved 4722 documents, with 59 being included. Articles’ publication year ranged from 2004 to 2023, with most (n = 55) using a quantitative approach, and the remaining ones (n = 4) using mixed methods. Veterinary practices were categorized into four groups: livestock (n = 24), small animals (n = 14), equine (n = 5), and mixed practice (broader scope; n = 17). Intrinsic factors identified as potentially influencing veterinarians’ antibiotic prescription included: socio-demographic factors (n = 39) and attitudes and concerns: self-confidence (n = 31); need to satisfy clients’ expectations (n = 19); fear (n = 27); lack of knowledge (n = 21). Extrinsic factors were also identified in several studies: clients’ lack of knowledge and/or training regarding AMR, appropriate antimicrobial use, and good production practices (n = 24); substandard hygiene conditions and biosecurity protocols (n = 14); time constraints (n = 4); cost of laboratory tests (n = 12); antibiotic policies and/or guidelines (n = 22); antibiotics cost (n = 20), and withdrawal period (n = 11); animal-related factors (n = 21), namely breeding and animals’ behavior. Conclusion This systematic review provides an updated and comprehensive understanding of non-clinical factors that can influence veterinarians’ antibiotic prescription practices. High client demand, self-confidence, need to satisfy clients’ expectations, deficient biosecurity, fear, lack of awareness from animal owners and farmers about AMR and appropriate antimicrobial use, and inadequate policies/guidelines were associated with higher antibiotic prescription among veterinarians. Many of the identified factors are potentially modifiable. Within the One Health approach, this can help in the design of interventions focusing on appropriate antibiotic use in animals to tackle AMR.

📚Today’s #MondayRead is a recent article published in BMC Veterinary Research, ‘Understanding how veterinarians’ knowledge, attitudes, and practices influence antibiotic prescription: a systematic review of survey studies’.

🔗Full article: bit.ly/46Dk6re

#AntimicrobialResistance #AMR #AnimalHealth

📚 Today’s #MondayRead is the first evaluation of the ESCMID Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) Certificate programme, demonstrating its impact on advancing AMS expertise and practice worldwide.

🔗Full article: bit.ly/4mw4Gee

#ESCMID #AntimicrobialResistance #GlobalHealth #AntimicrobialStewardship

Strengthening Antimicrobial Stewardship in Zambia: Dissemination of key findings – ICARS In September 2025, a national dissemination event in Lusaka, Zambia brought together government leaders, researchers, and local stakeholders to review the outcomes of a three-year antimicrobial stewar...

📍 Last week, a national dissemination event in Lusaka brought together government leaders, researchers, and local stakeholders to review the outcomes of a three-year antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) project.

Learn more ➡️ 🔗 bit.ly/46sZn9B
#AMR #AntimicrobialStewardship #GlobalHealth #Zambia

👏 ICARS is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Shobha Shetty, Global Director for Agriculture and Food at the World Bank, to its Board of Directors.

Read more about the experience Dr. Shetty brings to ICARS, as well as reflections from the Board Chair, Dr Henrik Wegener ➡️🔗 bit.ly/3VkjrWy

📕Today’s #MondayRead is a recent scoping review on how gender dynamics shape vulnerability and antimicrobial resistance outcomes, providing evidence to inform gender-responsive AMR policies, programmes, and interventions.

🔗Full article: bit.ly/46E1nwI

#AntimicrobialResistance #GlobalHealth #AMR

📚 Today’s #MondayRead is a study protocol developed as part of the ICARS-supported project ‘Addressing antibiotic overuse through continuous quality improvement: developing and assessing stewardship interventions in primary care in Kosovo’.

🔗 bmjopen.bmj.com/content/15/8...

💊 Inappropriate antibiotic prescription and consumption are contributing to the rise of #AMR in Pakistan.

💡An ICARS-supported project is working to improve prescribing practices and promote responsible antibiotic use in selected rural health centres in Punjab.

Learn more ⬇️🔗 bit.ly/4lXggP6

A tale of two labs: Comparing antimicrobial resistance data in pets across commercial and academic diagnostic laboratories Antimicrobial resistance *AMR) presents significant challenges in veterinary medicine, necessitating accurate surveillance to inform effective mitigat…

📕 Today’s #MondayRead explores how different data sources can shape our understanding of antimicrobial resistance (#AMR) in companion animals.

🔗 Full article: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Vietnam hosts hands-on bioinformatics workshop to address AMR in Aquaculture – ICARS In August 2025, nine researchers participated in a four-day bioinformatics workshop held in Da Nang, Vietnam. Led by Assistant Professor Yaovi Mahuton Gildas Hounmanou from the University of Copenhage...

📍 In Vietnam, researchers joined a four-day bioinformatics workshop.

📊 As part of an ICARS-supported project reducing antimicrobial use in Pangasius & Tilapia, the training focused on analysing bacterial genomic data from aquaculture disease outbreaks to support #AMR surveillance.🔗➡️ bit.ly/4lMPtoM

📖 Today’s #MondayRead examines how inequities in health systems, resource allocation, and access to antimicrobials underpin patterns of antimicrobial resistance (#AMR) in low- and middle-income countries.

📄 Full article: lnkd.in/ejzFDrFH

#OneHealth #SustainableDevelopment #LMICS #GlobalHealth

The antimicrobial resistance Swiss cheese model.

Today's #MondayRead from @lancetmicrobe.bsky.social introduces the Swiss cheese model of #AMR, showing how successive imperfect layers of defence, when aligned effectively, can reduce risk and prevent system failure.

🧀 Coordinated, multisectoral responses are essential.
📄 Read more🔗 bit.ly/3JnNXfb

🔎 Project zoom-in: Reducing antimicrobial use in Chilean salmon farming

Read about the project ➡️ icars-global.org/projects/chi...

#OneHealth #AnimalHealth #AntimicrobialResistance #FoodSafety #SustainableSolutions #Aquaculture #SustainableAquaculture

📚 This week’s #MondayRead is a systematic review examining #AMR in Klebsiella pneumoniae in South Africa, where AMR remains a growing yet understudied public health challenge.

➡️ onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

Communications Officer Communications Officer Are you a strategic communicator? Do you love translating technical information into accessible and eye-catching communications outputs?

🌍 We’re hiring a Communications Officer!

📍 Copenhagen, Denmark

🗓️ Apply by 31 Aug

Passionate about science & policy communication? Join ICARS to support global action on #AMR!

Apply now ➡️ bit.ly/47iqh5T

#CommunicationsOfficer #GlobalHealth #ScienceCommunication #AMR #JobOpportunity #JoinUs

Trends and patterns of antimicrobial resistance among common pathogens isolated from adult bloodstream and urinary tract infections in public health facilities in Malawi, 2020–2024 - BMC Infectious Di... Introduction Bacterial bloodstream and urinary tract infections present a huge health burden especially in low-resource settings, which is worsened by the escalating burden of antimicrobial resistance...

📚 Today's #MondayRead is a study published in BMC Infectious Diseases examining antimicrobial resistance (#AMR) trends among common pathogens isolated from adult bloodstream and urinary tract infections in Malawi between 2020 and 2024.

📖 bit.ly/40N4cbH

🌍 ICARS is pleased to welcome two new team members! Holy Akwar joins as Science Advisor, supporting the development and management of projects in LMICs. Francesca Chiara joins as Science Partnership Advisor, bringing extensive experience in #GlobalHealth and strategic partnerships ➡️ bit.ly/46LyWNS

📚 Today's #MondayRead explores expanding access to #AMR diagnostics in rural India. While rapid POCTs are promising, traditional culture labs with strengthened infrastructure may be the most feasible and cost-effective approach in these settings #GlobalHealth

🔗 doi.org/10.1016/j.jg...

📚 Today’s #MondayRead is a newly published comment in
@thelancet.com, ‘Integrating gender and equity commitments in the revised global action plan on antimicrobial resistance’.

Read more ➡️ bit.ly/4nWEueM

#GlobalHealth #OneHealth #PublicHealth #HealthPolicy

👋 ICARS is pleased to welcome two new team members!

Get to know the ICARS team ➡️ bit.ly/46LyWNS

#AMR #GlobalHealth #OneHealth

📢 Join the "Ask Me Anything" webinars on the C-CAMP
#OneHealth AMR Challenge 2025, supported by ICARS.

🗓️ July 16 | 3–4 PM IST lnkd.in/g-Znaz2r
🗓️ July 17 | 8–9 PM IST lnkd.in/gMHKHTcp

💡 Applications close: August 3, 2025

#OneHealth #AntimicrobialResistance #Biotech #PublicHealth

Women trailblazers shaping the global future of antimicrobial stewardship and antimicrobial resistance Published in Expert Review of Anti-infective Therapy (Ahead of Print, 2025)

📚 Today's #MondayRead celebrates women leading the mitigation of #AMR through research, education, advocacy & care. Among them is Dr. Maria Virginia Villegas, PI of an ICARS-supported project addressing CRE spread in Colombia’s public hospitals ➡️ bit.ly/4loaO8z 📖 bit.ly/3Gx8Q6N

ICARS conducts field visits to Zambia and Zimbabwe to support AMR mitigation projects – ICARS In June 2025, ICARS team members Rodolphe Mader and Sunday Ochai travelled to Zambia and Zimbabwe to assess progress and provide technical support for ongoing projects aimed at sustainable antimicrobi...

🌍 In June 2025, ICARS team members Rodolphe Mader and Sunday Ochai travelled to Zambia and Zimbabwe to visit ongoing ICARS-supported projects promoting sustainable antimicrobial use in livestock systems ➡️ bit.ly/40b4717 #AMR #OneHealth #SustainableLivestock #GlobalHealth

Scaling solutions and financing for antimicrobial resistance mitigation – ICARS On 2 June 2025, the International Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance Solutions (ICARS) and ReAct Africa hosted a high-level roundtable on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) at the Hamburg Sustainability ...

📍 On 2 June 2025, ICARS and ReAct Africa convened a high-level roundtable on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) during the Hamburg Sustainability Conference.

🔗 This summary brief highlights key insights on turning political commitments into meaningful, measurable action ➡️ bit.ly/3Gyh4eL

📚 Today's #MondayRead dives into the #AMR crisis in #Bihar, India. Introducing digital workflows led to a 4x rise in culture testing, better data quality, and faster turnaround times. The study offers a scalable model for LMICs to align policy, procurement & clinical practice 🔗 bit.ly/4077BBT

🌏 In June 2025, ICARS representatives Kristina Osbjer and Theresa Hogenhaug visited Japan to strengthen global collaboration on #AMR ➡️ bit.ly/44AnTER

ICARS Quarterly Newsletter, Issue No.18, June 2025 Read news and updates from the International Centre for Antimicrobial Resistance Solutions

🌎We're pleased to share the latest ICARS Quarterly Newsletter, where momentum continues to build across implementation research, global partnerships, and policy engagement to address #AMR.

✅Subscribe ➡️bit.ly/ICARSsubscribe
🔎Read more ➡️ mailchi.mp/icars-global...
📣Spread the word!