Our Activities
Developing Strong Country AMR Governance & Leadership
The Fleming Fund helps tackle drug resistance to create a healthier world. By building partnerships with governments and equipping them to collect and use data, we encourage countries to use antibiotic drugs better and invest in appropriate strategies to tackle AMR. Our governance work is underpinned by the principle of country ownership and developed in close alignment with countries’ own national priorities, strategies and plans.
Developing AMR Workforce Technical Capacity
Equipping the current and future generation of AMR technical experts and policy makers is critical to establishing sustainable surveillance systems, preserving the legacy of the Fleming Fund and safeguarding its investment. Given the complex nature of bacteriology and the public’s relative lack of familiarity with AMR, both a competent technical workforce and a community of global leaders is needed. Our commitment to sustainability and country ownership guides our training and capacity development initiatives. We seek to build the capacity of key individuals in positions of influence, in technical and policy spheres, and provide them with support to take their country’s AMR agenda forward.
Establishing Laboratory Capacity and Surveillance Systems
Strengthening surveillance systems and laboratories is the foundation of the Fleming Fund programme. In 2016, the UK’s AMR Review showed that investment in laboratories and surveillance systems across low- and middle-income countries (LIMC) was essential to effectively tackling AMR globally, and is one of the most cost-effective interventions.
The Fleming Fund addresses chronic underinvestment in LMIC laboratory capacity to support the generation and analysis of data at the local, national and international level. More AMR data at the local level will help clinicians understand the role of infection and AMR in patients (human or animal). At the national level, data will help inform health policies and responses to health emergencies. At the global level, it will provide early warnings of emerging threats and help identify long–term trends.
Creating Global/National Solidarity and Consensus
Our work with the Tripartite has helped to focus international attention on the need for AMR surveillance. Our funding has supported the development of One Health AMR National Action Plans and developed and implemented guidance and protocols for the standardised collection of data so it can be shared nationally and internationally.
This is supported by wider British diplomatic efforts, such as the work of the UK Special Envoy on AMR and the Alliance of Champions Against AMR that the UK co-chairs, to maintain momentum, keep AMR as a political priority, and coordinate activities between countries to ensure that AMR is addressed in the most effective way.
A number of the Fleming Fund’s Regional Grants, such as Grant 2.5 on Planning, Policy and Advocacy, our links to civil society through the South Centre, and our partnerships with national governments support these efforts to establish national, regional and global consensus and solidarity on AMR, to make a healthier and safer world for all.
Improving Awareness and Understanding of AMR
The Fleming Fund engages with decision-makers at all levels to enable prescribers and governments to make evidence-based decisions. While the data produced by functioning surveillance systems increases a country’s understanding of national AMR prevalence, by submitting data to GLASS and the OIE database, countries are also contributing to international understanding of AMR. The Fleming Fund engages with clinicians and hospital pharmacists through antimicrobial stewardship programmes to improve awareness of AMR locally, encouraging rational drug use. We support the integration of AMR into the Global Burden of Disease project to encourage greater global investment in AMR.