Building an Interdisciplinary Research Centre on the Global Governance of Antimicrobial Resistance in Conflicts (G2-ARC)

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a significant global health challenge to the delivery of healthcare worldwide. Effective antibiotics are essential to cure infections, and for the prevention and treatment of infectious complications in the provision of health services. Many experts agree that if the challenges posed by AMR are not addressed, we will be heading towards a period analogous to the pre-antibiotic era, when infections were synonymous with high mortality rates. To tackle this issue, effective international frameworks and action plans need to be developed. Many global organisations and governments have identified potential solutions with the objective of building governance arrangements. Yet none of these propositions have studied the impacts that conflict settings pose to the development of AMR. Currently more than half of the world's population live in countries with ongoing conflicts. Our research proposal aims to study the links between the emergence of AMR and conflict settings. Our interdisciplinary group will combine approaches from the fields of anthropology, medicine, law and public health to the case study of multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (MDRAb). MDRAb, a previously uncommon human pathogen, came to international attention in 2004 following reports of high rates of infections in wounded U.S. soldiers in Iraq. It has since become one of the three most critical pathogens identified by the World Health Organization for the development of new antibiotics. MDRAb remains one of the most common causes of infection among wounded civilians in the many conflicts that persist in the Middle East. In addition to the research we will undertake, we aim to establish at Université de Sherbrooke an Interdisciplinary Research Centre on the Global Governance of AMR in Conflicts. This centre will be well positioned to conduct inter-sectoral research on the global governance of AMR and to participate in broader international collaborations.