IMPACT AMR Study
Link for more information:https://gearupaction.org/our-partners/
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) undermines lifesaving treatment and deepens inequality. GEAR UP places gender and equity at the centre of AMR responses so policies and services work for everyone. LVCT Health serves as the East Africa regional lead, supporting partners in Kenya and Uganda to integrate gender and equity into surveillance, stewardship and policy.
Why this matters
AMR makes common infections harder to treat, drives costs for families and health systems and threatens progress across health and development. A gender and equity lens is essential because risks, access to care and medicine use differ for women, men, girls and boys across settings.
What we do
- Policy influence: Convene and support government and partners to integrate gender and equity into national AMR plans, surveillance standards and monitoring frameworks. Uganda’s revised AMR plan has moved further toward gender responsiveness through this multi-partner effort.
- Evidence for action: Produce practical analyses and tools that translate equity principles into routine surveillance and stewardship tasks, from data fields to training content to community feedback loops.
- Community voice: Co-design approaches with communities so lived realities shape AMR interventions from the start.
Where we work in East Africa
Kenya – We collaborate with Fleming Fund country partners to strengthen surveillance and stewardship and to integrate gender and equity within national AMR systems, working alongside the National AMR coordination structures and the University of Nairobi on human health surveillance.
Uganda – We work with Baylor Foundation Uganda and national stakeholders through a One Health approach to advance a gender-responsive AMR agenda and to support implementation of Uganda’s second AMR National Action Plan 2024/25–2028/29
Early Signals of Impact and Key Resources
Partners are adopting gender- and equity-aware indicators, updating guidance and building a community of practice that shares tools across countries.
- Uganda National Action Plan on AMR II 2024/25–2028/29. – Uganda’s second AMR plan uses a One Health approach and five objectives awareness, infection prevention and control, stewardship and access, surveillance and data, research and innovation. It strengthens governance through the National One Health Platform and the National AMR Sub-Committee, with technical committees and a monitoring, evaluation and learning framework. A clear shift is the emphasis on inclusion and equitable participation across governance and public awareness. Through GEAR UP, LVCT Health contributed practical gender and equity inputs during revision, sharing disaggregated data tools and facilitating sessions with the Sub-Committee and surveillance teams, helping move the plan from gender-blind to more gender-responsive.
- Community level research – IMPACT AMR study – Investigating Community Factors Influencing AntiMicrobial Resistance and Related Policy Development in Urban Informal Settlement in Nairobi, Kenya: The purpose of the study was to understand how people in Raila Community, Nairobi County use antibiotics, the barriers they face, and how policy can better reflect gender and equity realities in informal settlements.
Design: Mixed methods with surveys, interviews, focus groups and a participatory photovoice stream to capture daily drivers of antimicrobial use and resistance.Early signs of impact: Community engagement has increased participation and shaped the photovoice guide and interview prompts; frontline partners report stronger appetite for practical, family-centred messaging on safe antibiotic use; policy actors are requesting briefings that translate findings into updates for Kenya’s AMR governance and surveillance indicators. Analysis on going.
What will change: The study will inform gender- and equity-sensitive AMR policy updates and community-level interventions that reduce inappropriate antimicrobial use and improve access to trusted advice.
- Landscape Analysis of Gender and Equity Integration in AMR Policy and Surveillance Systems in Kenya and Uganda
A concise review of 23 policies and surveillance tools, plus interviews and roundtables, with a roadmap to make systems more inclusive.
Key findings
- Strong technical architecture and weak people-centred design. Equity is rarely specified in goals, roles or data.
- Surveillance tools focus on pathogens and facilities, not on equity variables, so high-risk groups are invisible.
- Limited guidance and training on applying a gender or intersectional lens in routine work.
Priority actions
- Add and use equity variables sex, age, disability, occupation, caregiving role, location, socioeconomic status across surveillance, with dashboards and feedback loops.
- Train surveillance and health teams on gender-sensitive data practice and interpretation.
- Seat gender and community voices in national and county AMR bodies and track equity in routine reports.
What this means: Embedding equity in plans, protocols, data and governance will lift surveillance quality, widen reach and deliver fairer outcomes. Kenya and Uganda can show how inclusive AMR systems work in practice.
Resources and Updates
- Read the GEAR UP project brief for aims, partners, scope of work and our East Africa programme plan.
- Putting inclusion at the heart of AMR: Uganda’s journey towards gender-responsive AMR surveillance — How Uganda is strengthening surveillance by bringing a gender and equity lens into routine data and practice. The piece explains why sex and equity disaggregation matters for labs and clinics, the practical steps teams are taking to capture better data, and how these insights can shape policy and resource allocation.
- Shifting the focus: A Human-Centred Design approach to tackling antimicrobial resistance in Uganda — A field view of co-design with health workers, patients and communities to surface everyday barriers to appropriate antibiotic use. The blog walks through the human-centred design process, shares early prototypes tested in real settings and reflects on how small changes can improve stewardship and access.
- Moving beyond bugs and drugs: Integrating gender and equity in AMR programmes in Uganda — What integration looks like across stewardship, surveillance and community engagement. It highlights practical entry points for programme teams, examples of tools being adapted, and lessons on leadership, partnerships and measurement that other countries can use.
Consortium
GEAR UP (Gender, Equity and AMR) is a Fleming Fund Phase II regional grant led by the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine with partners across Africa and Asia. We collaborate closely with Fleming Fund country grantees in Kenya and Uganda and with regional and global partners to grow the evidence and community of practice.
Get involved
Partner with us on research and implementation, co-host a learning exchange, or fund scale-up of equity-focused AMR tools.
Contact LVCT Health to explore collaboration.