Grant: Doctoral Research Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is an evolutionary process whereby microbes like bacteria, fungi, and viruses become resistant to the antimicrobial medicines we depend upon to stop their spread such as antibiotics, antifungals, and antivirals. The challenge is that every use of these medicines diminishes their future effectiveness, thereby accelerating AMR. Eighty years of unmanaged antimicrobial use has accelerated the development of AMR to a point of global crisis. AMR is now one of the greatest public health emergencies of our time. Some microbes have already developed resistance to all known antimicrobials, which means previously treatable infections are now untreatable. Many already die from AMR, and we risk losing countless more lives if nothing is done. The good news is there are national-level policies known to effectively curb AMR, but the world is so interconnected that almost all countries must implement these policies at the same time in order for the regulations to work. The challenge, therefore, is to craft effective tools to support international cooperation and to help countries act collectively to address AMR. This project identifies and evaluates the various political strategies that actors in the international community, like the United Nations, the World Health Organization, NGOs, and political leaders, can use to improve cooperation on the global collective action problem of AMR. It also looks at the role that countries with strong histories of global health leadership, like Canada, can play in leading the global response. Like many of today's greatest challenges, solving this problem depends on globally coordinated collective action. Achieving this will require strong global leadership, presenting an opportunity for global health oriented countries, like Canada, to rise to the occasion. The research seeks to generate and translate social scientific insights to tackle AMR and improve and protect population health around the world.