The Robert Koch Institute (RKI): main building in Berlin. more
Germany’s Public Health institute RKI monitors the population’s health and wellbeing. more
The Robert Koch Institute is the German government's central institution for the identification, surveillance and prevention of infectious diseases in the Portfolio of the German Ministry of Health. more
Lead Coordination of WHO AMR Surveillance and Quality Assessment Collaborating Network: Strengthening global partnership on AMR
Duration: 2023 - 2025
Partner countries: Global
Partner institutions:
Involved RKI units: Unit 37
4th Meeting of the WHO AMR Surveillance and Quality Assessment Collaborating Network in Buenos Aires in March 2023. Source: WHO
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major global threat. A recent global assessment of the AMR burden estimated that approximately 4.95 million deaths have been associated with bacterial AMR in 2019, making AMR one of the leading causes of death worldwide.
The WHO AMR Surveillance and Quality Assessment Collaborating Centre Network was established to strengthen the evidence base for AMR through surveillance and research. As both the re-designated coordinator of the Network and as a newly designated WHO CC DEU-144 for AMR, antimicrobial consumption (AMC) and health care-associated infections (HAI), RKI unit 37 strives to contribute to the improvement of standards of AMR surveillance for greater global impact and an improved evidence basis for combatting this global health threat.
The project aim is to intensify international AMR collaboration with the WHO AMR Surveillance and Quality Assessment Collaborating Centre Network.
The RKI aims to provide technical support and contributions to the Global AMR Surveillance System (GLASS) implementation activities to strengthen diagnostic stewardship, integrated AMR, HAI and AMC surveillance and methods for AMR data management and analysis. Furthermore, activities of the WHO Global Leaders Group on AMR (GLG) will be supported, in particular the task force on integrated AMR surveillance headed by Prof. Dr. Lothar Wieler.
Networking and cooperation: The RKI team is coordinating the global WHO AMR surveillance network through strategic planning and implementation of network meetings as well as performing general management and communication tasks. The team is also conceptually developing and monitoring the technical activities of the Collaborating Centres.
GLASS capacity development: As the newly designated WHO AMR Collaborating Centre DEU-144, RKI unit 37 is supporting the implementation of the Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS) through guidance on: a) diagnostic stewardship, b) integrated surveillance with health care-associated infection and antimicrobial use, and c) methods for AMR data management/analysis.
Strengthening the Global Leaders Group (GLG) on AMR: The RKI supports Prof. Dr. Lothar Wieler as a member of the GLG, a group of world leaders and experts from across sectors working together to accelerate political action to tackle AMR. Prof. Dr. Wieler is currently leading the task force on integrated AMR surveillance and RKI unit 37 strategically supports him in his role, including in the global review of AMR policies, and the preparation of advocacy and technical documents as well as regular technical expert meetings.
Training and competence development: RKI unit 37 conducts trainings and missions to provide technical expertise on AMR. Furthermore, the project team is developing a toolkit on AMR to support trainings abroad.
Date: 13.07.2023
