CIHR Operating Grant: Evaluation of population-level interventions to reduce AMR – Full Application

Well-being, Health and Biomedical Discovery

Deadlines

Academic Unit: Inquire within unit

Memorial Deadline: Monday 30th, January 2023

External Deadline: Thursday 2nd, February 2023

Description

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a critical and growing global public threat that requires a unified global response for human, animal and environmental health. The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that AMR threatens to reverse a century of medical progress and governments and health organizations around the world are paying increasingly more attention.

Successfully addressing the threat of AMR requires coordinated multi-sectoral and multi-jurisdictional action. Growing political attention and commitment from 148 countries that have developed and implemented national AMR action plans^[1] offer a rare opportunity for meaningful, evidence-informed action in Canada and around the world. Despite the shared need for evidence on the most appropriate and effective population-level interventions to reduce antimicrobial use and prevent the emergence and spread of AMR, relatively few high-quality evaluations are available.

The overarching objective of this funding opportunity is to support research evaluating domestic or international population-level interventions to reduce inappropriate antimicrobial use and prevent the spread of resistant pathogens in humans, animals and the environment. Careful study of population-level solutions including regulatory, guideline, communication, legislation, service provision, environmental/social planning and fiscal interventions will contribute to building a body of evidence to support Canadian and international AMR decision-makers as they address the multi-faceted challenge of AMR.

Research Areas

This funding opportunity will support projects evaluating domestic or international population-level interventions to reduce inappropriate antimicrobial use and prevent the spread of resistant pathogens in humans, animals and the environment. Interventions being evaluated could fall into, but are not limited to, the following seven categories^[2]:

• Regulatory interventions establishing rules or principles of behaviour or practice, for example the introduction of stewardship policies or requirements for public disclosure of antibiotic use levels;
• Guideline interventions that recommend or mandate practice, for example, national guidelines on antimicrobial prescribing or preferred treatment for resistant infections in humans, animals and the environment;
• Communication interventions that use print, electronic, telephonic or broadcast media, for example education campaigns to inform the public about antimicrobial resistance or appropriate antibiotic use in humans, animals and the environment;
• Legislation interventions that make or change laws, for example laws requiring medical prescriptions for all antibiotic sales;
• Service provision interventions such as the introduction of funding for specific stewardship goals or programs;
• Environmental/social planning interventions that design or control the physical or social environment; or
• Fiscal interventions that use the tax system or other financial measures to reduce or increase financial costs, for example the introduction of pay-for-performance programs.

Projects focused on animal or environmental health must include a human health component and demonstrate the impacts on human health. Research focused exclusively on animal or environmental health with no link to human health are not eligible.

Research supported through this funding opportunity is expected to demonstrate how results can inform the development of population-level interventions to reduce inappropriate antimicrobial use and prevent the spread of resistant pathogens in the Canadian context.

Important Dates

Additional information can be found on ResearchNet.

Funding Sources

Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR)