Advancing One Health Surveillance for Animal Health
A major highlight of ISID-Africa's participation was Dr Sirdar's presentation entitled, "The Overlooked Dimension of AMR Surveillance: Advancing a Priority Bacterial Pathogen Framework for Animal Health."
Delivered during the conference's parallel session on AMR Surveillance in Human Health and the Environment, the presentation addressed a critical gap in global One Health surveillance; the absence of an internationally harmonized bacterial priority pathogen framework for animal health. The session focused on practical approaches for strengthening surveillance systems, improving laboratory data quality, and translating surveillance evidence into public health action.
Drawing on a comprehensive review of WHO, WOAH and FAO frameworks together with recent scientific evidence, the presentation proposed the development of a Priority Bacterial Pathogen List for Animal Health (PBPL-AH) to complement the WHO Bacterial Priority Pathogens List for human health. The proposed framework seeks to improve harmonization of surveillance systems across human, animal and environmental sectors, strengthen international comparability of AMR data, and support integrated One Health decision-making.
Following the presentation, Dr Sirdar joined an expert panel on AMR Surveillance, alongside specialists from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), South Africa, and other regional institutions including Nigeria. The discussion examined practical experiences in implementing integrated surveillance systems, improving laboratory data quality, strengthening data standardization, linking microbiology results with clinical decision-making, and scaling successful surveillance models across Africa.
The panel emphasized that effective surveillance extends beyond data collection and must generate timely, high-quality evidence that directly informs policy, stewardship programmes and public health interventions.
Contributing to GARDP's Future Strategy
In recognition of ISID-Africa's growing contribution to AMR research and policy, Dr Sirdar was invited to participate in the GARDP Africa Strategic Consultation, an invitation-only consultation held alongside the conference.
Convened by GARDP Africa in partnership with ReAct Africa, the consultation brought together selected experts from across the continent to help shape GARDP's next five-year strategy. Discussions focused on ensuring that African priorities are fully reflected in future efforts to accelerate antibiotic research and development while improving equitable access to effective antibiotics across the continent.
ISID-Africa's participation provided an opportunity to contribute perspectives on strengthening research partnerships, surveillance systems, stewardship, and equitable access within a One Health framework.
