GARDP and French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs sign Declaration of Intent to tackle antibiotic resistance

15 April 2021

[Français]

The Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP) and the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs have signed a Declaration of Intent to explore opportunities to collaborate on and strengthen activities to tackle antibiotic resistance.

The Declaration of Intent is focused on addressing antibiotic resistance in France, Europe, francophone countries and globally. This could include through information sharing, research efforts and activities to support the development of and access to treatments and diagnostics.

“France has played a leading role in the development of the European One Health Action Plan against Antimicrobial Resistance, which includes antibiotic resistance. This Declaration of Intent is an important opportunity to work with the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs to address this critical global health challenge. Significantly, this collaboration will include a focus on activities to ensure everyone who needs lifesaving antibiotics can access them,” said Dr Manica Balasegaram, GARDP Executive Director.

Antimicrobial resistance, particularly antibiotic resistance, is identified in France’s Global Health Strategy as a foremost public health challenge that requires the bolstering of research efforts and developing new modes of intervention, which must be fast and coordinated. The strategy notes any delay could have catastrophic consequences.

GARDP is a not-for-profit research and development organization working to ensure that everyone who needs antibiotics receives effective and affordable treatment, no matter where they live. France is strongly committed to addressing antimicrobial resistance, in addition to its significant financial contributions to global health priorities, including HIV, tuberculosis, malaria and universal health coverage.

About GARDP

The Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP) is a Swiss not-for-profit organization developing new treatments for drug-resistant infections that pose the greatest threat to health. GARDP was created by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi) in 2016 to ensure that everyone who needs antibiotics receives effective and affordable treatment, no matter where they live. GARDP aims to develop five new treatments by 2025 to fight drug-resistant infections, focusing on sexually transmitted infections, sepsis in newborns and infections in hospitalized adults and children. GARDP is funded by the governments of Germany, Japan, Luxembourg, Monaco, Netherlands, South Africa, Switzerland, United Kingdom, as well as Médecins Sans Frontières and private foundations. GARDP is registered under the legal name GARDP Foundation. www.gardp.org

About the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs

The French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs implements France’s development policy, with overarching objectives of poverty eradication, the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, the Paris Climate Agreement and the protection of global common goods. The policy sets out five thematic priorities in order to take action on the underlying factors of inequality in the world: international stability; climate; education; gender equality and health. France ranks fifth among the OECD’s DAC donors in volume. https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/en