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WHOCC on Global Governance of AMR and Director Steven Hoffman profiled in article on Re$earch Money

On February 10, Debbie Lawes a contributor to Re$earch Money, an online news source for developments in Canadian science, technology and innovation, profiled the WHO Collaborating Centre (WHOCC) on Global Governance of Antimicrobial Resistance at the Global Strategy Lab and its Director Steven Hoffman.

The article quotes Hoffman saying:

“when it comes to antimicrobial resistance, this isn’t something Canada can do alone. International cooperation is essential because viruses and bacteria don’t carry passports. They transcend national borders, which means even if we do everything right in Canada, all it takes is for one resistant microbe to travel on an airplane and travel to Canada for us to be faced with the exact same problem.”

The article goes on to describe GSL as a Lab already having an international reputation for advising the world’s governments and public health organizations, including the WHO, on how to design laws, policies and institutions that address transnational health threats, including thorny issues such as tobacco control and health misinformation.

As part of the WHOCC, its 26-member research team will work with colleagues from around the world from disciplines as diverse as law, epidemiology, political science, communications and ethics:

“We’re building a science about how countries can work together to address this global health threat. This includes designing international institutional arrangements that “not only solve the problem but are also politically feasible, legally acceptable and continually incentivize compliance with the measures that are involved.”

– Steven Hoffman

Connecting it to the current public health crisis he added:

“If there’s a silver living from COVID-19, it might be the way it has brought attention and political will to addressing these kinds of infectious disease threats that transcend national boundaries. The current pandemic gives us a window into a future that we really don’t want if we allow antimicrobial resistance to continue unabated.”

A full version of the article is available here. Re$earch Money, however, is a subscriber-based service and the article is only accessible behind a paywall.

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GSL Associate Director comments on the role of CMOHs across Canada during COVID-19