Tackling the global challenge of antimicrobial resistance (AMR): Insights from rural China
Professor Helen Lambert (Professor of Medical Anthropology, Department of Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol) will deliver a lecture about tackling the global challenge of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) with insights from rural China. The lecture will be followed by a question and answer session.
China is one of the world’s largest consumers of antimicrobials and the PRC has implemented a series of policy measures to stem the growing socioeconomic burden of AMR and control antibiotic use. Yet while analysis of national surveillance data shows a declining trend in antibiotic use, this is largely confined to urban hospital settings and resistance rates remain relatively high. In this seminar I draw on findings from seven years of collaborative research into AMR in three provinces, with a focus on rural settings. Beginning from observations by local colleagues regarding the limited implementation of antibiotic stewardship initiatives outside tertiary hospitals and the widespread availability of antibiotics over the counter, I discuss the socioeconomic drivers of antibiotic use and the challenges for tackling AMR in rural China. I also reflect on the need to work across disciplines and the value of social science-informed methods and strategies for conducting robust research in this complex field.
Helen Lambert (D.Phil.) is Professor of Medical Anthropology in the Department of Population Health Sciences, Bristol Medical School, University of Bristol. Her work uses interdisciplinary and ethnographic approaches to transform understanding of key global public health issues including antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and infectious disease, building on longstanding research in Asia into medical plurality, treatment-seeking and inequalities in access to care. She is an elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences and has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles as well as two edited books, the latest of which is Abrams, S., Lambert, H. and Robinson, J (eds) How to live through a pandemic (Routledge, 2023).
Prof Lambert has been working on AMR for a decade and as ESRC Research Champion for AMR (2015-17), she led national initiatives to highlight the role of the social sciences in tackling AMR and build cross-disciplinary research capacity. She has led two Newton Fund-supported AMR projects in China including a UK-China AMR Partnerships Hub on Strategies to reduce the burden of antibiotic resistance in China, and leads the social science workstreams of ResPharm, a UK-India study on the impact of pharmaceutical waste on AMR in the environment and local community, and a recently completed interdisciplinary UKRI-funded project on One Health Drivers of AMR in Thailand. She has served on WHO’s Strategic Technical Advisory Group for AMR (2017-2020) and is a Faculty member for the Merieux Foundation’s AMR and One Health annual training course. She sits on the MRC Applied Global Health Research Board and on the Wellcome Trust Early Career Advisory Group, and was seconded for two years to UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) as Challenge Leader for Global Health. She is also a member of the UK-India Advisory Council to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the Nesta Longitude Prize Advisory Panel and has held roles on numerous other AMR-related Scientific Advisory Committees and research initiatives including the EU Horizon 2020-funded SONAR-Global and the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada’s spotlight report on AMR.
This is one of the events in the on-going China Forum Seminar series, hosted by the China Forum, Jesus College. The seminars, given by eminent speakers, cover a broad range of topics and disciplines.
Booking
This is a virtual seminar. Attendance is free. Advance booking is required by emailing: china-forum@jesus.cam.ac.uk. Priority will be given to members of Jesus College and the University of Cambridge.
