At a recent workshop hosted by Ashoka University, experts from esteemed organizations including the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), World Health Organization (WHO), National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), and partners of the Alliance for Pathogen Surveillance and Innovation (APSI) underscored the urgent need for Unified Data Systems and Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) for the surveillance of Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR) in India.

Distinguished attendees such as Dr. Kamini Walia, Senior Scientist at ICMR; Dr. Anuj Sharma, NPO – Technical focal point for AMR, Labs and IPC, WHO; Dr. Rakesh Mishra, Director, Tata Institute of Genetics Society; and Dr. (Brig.) Rakesh Kumar Gupta, Director, Government Institute of Medical Sciences (GIMS), among others, participated in the workshop. The event also welcomed scientists from CSIR-NCL, CSIR-CCMB & CSIR-IGIB, clinical partners of Ashoka University, representatives from funding bodies, and students and professors from colleges in Delhi-NCR.

India currently faces an urgent need for precise estimates regarding the overall prevalence of AMR, with the nation widely believed to carry one of the largest burdens of drug-resistant pathogens globally. According to ICMR's Annual Report 2022, the misuse of antimicrobials has led to a concerning rise in the prevalence of AMR in the country.

Titled "Environmental Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR): Strategies and Implications," the workshop was part of an outreach effort by APSI, a multi-city consortium aimed at developing advanced pathogen surveillance. APSI counts public and private institutions such as Ashoka University among its members.

Prof. L.S. Shashidhara, Director of the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru, highlighted the unique nature of the APSI consortium, which brings together public and private academia, hospitals, R&D labs, and government departments to tackle the AMR challenge across four different regions of the country. He emphasized the vision of the consortium to provide evidence for framing public health policies and strategies at both national and state levels.

A panel discussion during the workshop emphasized the importance of integrating surveillance data into healthcare and environmental systems for informed decision-making and policy development. Key recommendations included addressing challenges in real-time AMR surveillance such as data sharing and operator training, alongside advocating for digital systems to streamline data generation and allocation.

Researchers associated with APSI presented standard methods developed for AMR surveillance in various environments, including wastewater, milk samples, and clinics. Challenges faced and data obtained during the last year of surveillance were discussed, revealing a widespread occurrence of antibiotic resistance-causing genes across all tested environments. The next steps involve correlating these findings with AMR in clinics to enhance the predictive power of environmental surveillance.