One Health (Dec 2016)

Building bridges to operationalise one health – A Sino-Swedish collaboration to tackle antibiotic resistance

  • Otto Cars,
  • Yonghong Xiao,
  • Cecilia Stålsby Lundborg,
  • Lennart E Nilsson,
  • Jianzhong Shen,
  • Qiang Sun,
  • Zhenqiang Bi,
  • Stefan Börjesson,
  • Christina Greko,
  • Yang Wang,
  • Yuqing Liu,
  • Jakob Ottoson,
  • Xuewen Li,
  • Maud Nilsson,
  • Hong Yin,
  • Zhenwang Bi,
  • Beiwen Zheng,
  • Xi Xia,
  • Baoli Chen,
  • Lilu Ding,
  • Pan Sun,
  • Oliver James Dyar,
  • Anette Hulth,
  • Göran Tomson

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.onehlt.2016.09.002
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 2, no. C
pp. 139 – 143

Abstract

Read online

Antibiotic resistance is a complex global health challenge. The recent Global Action Plan on antimicrobial resistance highlights the importance of adopting One Health approaches that can cross traditional disciplinary boundaries. We report on the early experiences of a multisectoral Sino-Swedish research project that aims to address gaps in our current knowledge and seeks to improve the situation through system-wide interventions. Our research project is investigating antibiotic use and resistance in a rural area of China through a combination of epidemiological, health systems and laboratory investigations. We reflect here on the challenges inherent in conducting long distance cross-disciplinary collaborations, having now completed data and sample collection for a baseline situation analysis. In particular, we recognise the importance of investing in aspects such as effective communication, shared conceptual frameworks and leadership. We suggest that our experiences will be instructive to others planning to develop similar international One Health collaborations.

Keywords