IOI Director of Biology Prof Tim Walsh, together with Michael Corley (British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy [BSAC]), met with the Bangladesh High Commissioner on 27th July to discuss continued commitment to tackling antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Bangladesh and globally.
AMR is predicted to cause over 10 million deaths per year by 2050. The burden of AMR varies greatly by region, with the greatest effects felt in low- and middle-income countries. AMR poses a significant threat to many of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
This meeting follows the commitments to support the UK All-party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Antibiotics by the Bangladesh Government and the joint fellowship programme (to be supported by IOI and the Bangladesh Government), agreed by Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina with Prof Tim Walsh in February of this year.
Ineos Oxford Institute (IOI), BSAC and Trinity College, Cambridge, are galvanising AMR awareness in the UK parliament as well as canvassing and mustering international support for the UN AMR High-Level Meeting (HLM) to be held in 2024. The term of reference for the IOI-Bangabandhu DPhil Fellowship programme for Bangladeshi students has been finalised during the meeting.
Saida Muna Tasneem, Bangladesh High Commissioner to the UK also proposed to work together with the IOI to establish Bangabandhu Chair at the University of Oxford.
Prof Tim Walsh met the Honourable Prime Minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina on 26th February 2023 to discuss the joint action on AMR.
We were warmly welcomed by Saida Muna Tasneem, Bangladesh High Commissioner to the UK at the Bangladesh High Commission and were extremely impressed by her enthusiasm to facilitate a meeting between Prime Ministers Hasina and Sunak, and to invite other High Commissioners in London. Furthermore, Bangladesh High Commission’s notion of supporting Malta and Barbados in the UN 2024 leadership would be very much welcomed.
Bangladesh looks forward to deepening its research collaboration and engagements with the IOI at the University of Oxford and is working closely with the British Government and IOI to support the upcoming UN HLM on AMR during the 79th UNGA. Bangladesh also reaffirms its commitment to tackle the problem of AMR globally under the leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister H.E. Sheikh Hasina who led from the front as the Co-Chair of the GLG on AMR between 2020-2022 and built a partnership with Barbados and Malta in making the HLM 2024 on AMR a grand success.
