On September 6 2022, the World Health Organization held a high-level webinar to launch findings of the Global Evidence Review on Health and Migration (GEHM) with a focus on antimicrobial resistance. Research for the Global Evidence Review was conducted by Dr. Rogers Van Katwyk and a team of researchers from the Global Strategy Lab including Policy Advisor Michèle Palkovits, Senior Analyst Ranjana Nagi, Research Fellow Andrea Morales, and Director Steven Hoffman.
International refugee and migrant populations may be particularly vulnerable to rising antimicrobial resistance. The report synthesizes the evidence across four themes related to antibiotic access and use: (i) access, (ii) appropriate use, (iii) barriers to access and use, and (iv) interventions to improve access and use of essential antimicrobials in international migrant and refugee populations and provides policy considerations to support policymakers in addressing national and global challenges related to AMR and migration.
At the online webinar, Dr Rogers Van Katwyk, who is the Managing Director for WHO Collaborating Centre on Global Governance of Antimicrobial Resistance, hosted by the Global Strategy Lab, gave a presentation titled: Capturing the evidence on access to essential antibiotics in migrant and refugee populations. Dr Palmira Immordino, Technical Advisor at the World Health Organization, spoke on: Strategic importance of Global Evidence review on Health and Migration (GEHM) for policy making for refugees and migrants, and Mr Anand Balachandran, Unit Head, AMR, SPC at the National Action Plans and Monitoring presented on: Developing a “People-centred framework” for addressing Antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
The webinar hosted a technical session by Chair Rifat Hossain, Technical Officer of the Department of Public Health and Environment (PHE), and an open discussion facilitated by Dr Enrique Castro-Sánchez, Associate Professor in Infection Prevention and Improvement, College of Nursing, Midwifery and Healthcare at the University of West London. The opening and closing remarks were led by Dr Hanan Balkhy, Assistant Director-General for Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), Dr Santino Severoni, Director, PHM for WHO, and Dr Catharina Van Weezenbeek, Director at SPC/AMR.
Watch the webinar recording below:
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