Consortium for Antimicrobial Resistance in Africa
The Consortium for Antimicrobial Resistance in Africa (CARA) was established in 2020 by investigators from South Africa, Cameroon, Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania, and the United States, to understand the dynamics of community-based antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The elimination of human immunodeficiency viruses through the ‘Test and Treat’ approach is of high priority for Africa. However, the development of drug resistance in the untreated population poses a threat to the UNAIDS goal of having viral suppression in 95% of persons on treatment by 2030. Professor Pascal Bessong and Colleagues in a commentary in The Lancet HIV alluded to the need for country-specific interventions to cumulatively contribute to this global ambition https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/lanhiv/PIIS2352-3018(21)00273-3.pdf. Equally, the control of antimicrobial resistance is a global priority as proclaimed by the World Health Assembly in May 2015. The activities of the Consortium for Antimicrobial Resistance in Africa will be informed by country-specific research priorities for AMR, the African Union Agenda 2063, the World Health Assembly, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. https://au.int/en/agenda2063; https://sdgs.un.org/goals; Antimicrobial resistance; https://www.who.int/antimicrobial-resistance/global-action-plan/en/
Objectives of CARA
- To pool resources and expertise from antiviral and antibiotic resistance backgrounds for innovative approaches towards an enhanced antimicrobial stewardship in Africa.
- To understand the determinants of undisclosed exposure to antiretrovirals at treatment initiation and the impact on the suppression viral load across different communities on the continent, using prospective cohorts, innovative approaches and state-of-the-art technologies.
- To understand the determinants of antibiotic resistance development at the community level using birth cohorts across the continent, and Escherichia coli as the model organism. The project wants to understand the impact of gut microbiota diversity on the onset of antibiotic resistance acquisition in individuals and at the community level, with the view for the discovery of organisms worthy of addition to the pathogen priority list.
- To engage and mobilize study communities and national and regional stakeholders for the co-production and co-ownership of knowledge; and co-implementation of commonly designed interventions for an enhanced antimicrobial resistance stewardship at the level of our local communities.
- To train the next generation of researchers for leadership in antimicrobial resistance.
Investigators
AIDS Virus Research Laboratory, University of Venda, South Africa – Pascal Bessong (Lead)
Laboratory for Emerging Infectious Diseases, University of Buea, Cameroon – Professor Roland Ndip.
Military Health Laboratory, Yaoundé, Cameroun – Colonel Dr Julius Nwobegahay.
Global BioMed Scientific, Forest, United States – Dr Denis Tebit.
Haydom Centre for Global Health, Haydom, Tanzania – Dr Esto Mduma.
Center for Global Health Equity, University of Virginia, USA – Professor Rebecca Dillingham.
Faculty of Health Sciences, Water Sisulu University, South Africa – Professor Teke Apalata.
Joint Clinical Research Centre, Kampala, Uganda – Dr Immaculate Nnakya.
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Ghana – Dr Samuel Kwofie
Department of Microbiological Pathology, Sefako Magatho Health Sciences University, South Africa – Dr Andrew Musyoki.