ISID-Africa | Wastewater and Environmental Surveillance for AMR Control
Organized by: International Society for Infectious Diseases (ISID) & ISID Africa
Date: 29 September 2026
Time: 5pm Pakistan time (UTC+5), 14hrs South African time (UTC+2)
Format: Virtual Webinar (1 hour)
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing global health threat that undermines the effectiveness of antimicrobial therapies and poses significant challenges to infectious disease control. While clinical surveillance remains essential, it provides limited insight into the wider circulation of antimicrobial-resistant organisms and resistance determinants within communities and the environment.
Wastewater and Environmental Surveillance (WES) has emerged as an innovative One Health approach to complement existing AMR surveillance systems. By analyzing wastewater and environmental samples using molecular diagnostics, genomic sequencing, and bioinformatics, WES can provide population-level insights, early warning signals, and valuable information on pathogen circulation and antimicrobial resistance trends. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the value of wastewater surveillance for monitoring infectious disease threats. Building on this experience, countries are now exploring the application of WES for AMR surveillance, outbreak preparedness, and strengthening global health security.
This ISID webinar will highlight experiences from Pakistan and Bangladesh, showcasing how WES can contribute to AMR control and support integrated One Health surveillance approaches in low- and middle-income country settings.
The webinar aims to:
Presentation 1 (20 Minutes): Wastewater Surveillance for AMR Control: Building a One Health Early Warning System
Speaker: Dr Afreenish Amir Hassan
Panel Discussion (25 minutes): Moderator Dr Mohamed Sirdar
Panelist: Dr Mukhlid Yousif, Dr Vincent Pang, Dr Afreenish Amir
Panel Discussion
“The Future of WES for AMR Control: Moving from Surveillance to Public Health Action”
Discussion themes:
Open Discussion: 15 minutes
Dr. Afreenish Amir has experience in antimicrobial resistance surveillance, laboratory systems, antimicrobial stewardship, bacterial/fungal genomic surveillance, waste water environmental surveillance. She worked more than 8 years with NIH Pakistan in roles including Project Director AMR (US CDC Project) and Co-PI Wastewater surveillance. She has 121 published research papers, with several more in progress.
Dr Mohamed Mahmoud Sirdar is a veterinary epidemiologist and global antimicrobial resistance (AMR) leader serving as interim Director of ISID-Africa and Global Program Specialist for AMR at the International Society for Infectious Diseases (ISID). He leads ISID’s AMR strategy across Africa and manages the organisation’s global AMR portfolio, advancing integrated surveillance, early warning systems, antimicrobial stewardship, and implementation science to strengthen One Health security.
Dr Mukhlid Yousif is a Senior Genomics and Public Health Scientist and Researcher with more than 15 years of experience in molecular virology, pathogen genomics, bioinformatics, and infectious disease surveillance. His work focuses on translating genomic and molecular data into actionable public health intelligence, with a particular emphasis on wastewater and environmental surveillance (WES). He established and currently serves as Co-Director of the Wastewater Genomics Syndicate at the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD), South Africa).
Dr Pang is an epidemiologist who is passionate about Public Health, Global Health and the prevention of emerging infectious diseases. Dr. Pang has been leading the Asia Wastewater & Environmental Surveillance (WES) Initiative under the Duke-NUS Centre for Outbreak Preparedness (COP). He is also leading the Regional Collaboration Centre (RCC) in Hanoi, Vietnam, as part of the regional initiatives of the SingHealth Duke-NUS Global Health Institute (SDGHI) at Duke-NUS Medical School.