USAID taps CHAI, GETF to launch coalition that will test innovative approaches to address antimicrobial resistance in low- and middle-income countries
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) tapped the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) and the Global Environment & Technology Foundation (GETF) to lead a new coalition to address critical antimicrobial resistance (AMR) challenges faced globally and, most acutely, in low- and middle-income countries.
The new coalition, the Antimicrobial Resistance Access and Stewardship Initiative (AMRASI), is a groundbreaking initiative that will use a sustainable, market-driven approach to address critical gaps in access to diagnostics and antimicrobials while incentivizing their appropriate use in low- and middle-income countries. AMRASI is assembling multi-sectoral stakeholders to design and implement a “proof of concept” pilot to assess the feasibility of a market-based approach that increases access to urgently needed, quality assured, diagnostics and antimicrobials using market shaping instruments, while concurrently promoting stewardship through outcomes-based finance interventions. Following a series of convenings to align on these key pilot areas, the coalition aims to mobilize and launch the targeted pilot to test the model in up to two low- and middle-income countries.
CHAI is supporting the coalition as a core technical partner, leveraging expertise in market-shaping frameworks across therapeutics and diagnostics to inform the pilot design and execution. GETF is serving as the AMRASI Secretariat, supporting the coalition to plan for pilot design in the first half of 2024. The broader AMRASI coalition consists of diagnostics and pharmaceuticals companies, in-country subject matter experts, global health donors, implementing partners, and global AMR groups who will lend their expertise to inform key aspects of the pilot, such as syndrome selection, geographic focus, funding model, pooled procurement operations, and sustainability.
The AMRASI coalition provides a great opportunity to test innovative strategies to combat AMR and develop learnings that can be shared across the sector. We are excited to work with USAID in pioneering a finance-based model to drive appropriate testing and treatment for bacterial infections.” Dr. David Ripin, Executive Vice President, Access; Chief Scientific Officer, CHAI