Transatlantic Taskforce Conference

14 and 15 September 2021

On 14 and 15 September, the European Commission will host the conference of the Transatlantic Taskforce on Antimicrobial Resistance (TATFAR), to strengthen partnerships in the fight against AMR. The meeting, held virtually and webstreamed on Day 1, will bring together over 250 collaborators and associated participants from the EU, USA, Canada, Norway and the United Kingdom, along with the WHO, and other partners from academia, industry, and non-governmental organisations. EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides will open the meeting, which also includes formal addresses from senior officials from the U.S., Norway and UK. Prof. Lothar Wieler, President of the German Robert Koch Institute and member of the AMR Global Leaders Group, will deliver a keynote address on the current global AMR landscape and perspectives on tackling AMR.

Participants and speakers

Commissioner Stella Kyriakides gave a welcoming address by video message.

The other formal speakers include:

• USA: Loyce Pace, Director, Office of Global Affairs, Department of Health and Human Services
• Norway: Widar Skogan, State Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Food (by video message) and Dr. John-Arne Røttingen, Ambassador for Global Health, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• United Kingdom: David Kennedy, Director General, Food, Farming and Biosecurity System
• Keynote address: Prof. Dr. Lothar H. Wieler, President of the German Robert Koch Institute and member of the AMR Global Leaders Group
• Closing remarks: Sandra Gallina, Director-General of the European Commission’s Directorate-General on Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE)

Agenda

The first day meeting will be an open format conference, taking stock of TATFAR’s progress over the last implementation period 2016-2020. The second day will be a closed-day meeting for TATFAR collaborators for the endorsement of the new work plan 2021-2026.

• Agenda

Presentations

Presentations will be published after the meeting.

Background

TATFAR strives to incorporate a One Health approach to all of its work and the collaboration, at the expert level, aims to enhance synergy and communication, as well as strengthening domestic and global efforts. Over its past work, TATFAR has created unique collaborations between government agencies to achieve common goals, provided experience and examples to help create successful AMR policies. It has also enabled coordination of research and development of new pharmaceuticals, new diagnostic tests, and clinical trials. TATFAR has supported drug development programs collaboratively to meet Canada, EU, and U.S. regulatory requirements more efficiently and published papers summarizing economic incentives for antibacterial drug development. TATFAR is co-chaired by the EU and U.S., currently by John F. Ryan, Director for Public Health in Directorate-General Health and Food Safety of the European Commission and by Larry Kerr, Director of Pandemics and Emerging Threats Office within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Created as part of the 2009 U.S.–EU Summit Declaration, the Transatlantic Taskforce on Antimicrobial Resistance (TATFAR) brings together technical experts from the European Union (EU), the United States, Norway, Canada and the United Kingdom to collaborate and share best practices that strengthen domestic and global efforts in four Key Areas:

1. Appropriate antimicrobial use in human and veterinary medicine
2. Surveillance and prevention of antimicrobial resistance (AMR)
3. Strategies to improve financial incentives, access, research, and development of antimicrobial drugs, diagnostics, and alternatives
4. Cross-cutting actions to improve awareness about AMR and appropriate use of antibiotics, and to disseminate information from TATFAR

In May 2014, the taskforce released its first report summarizing the progress and outcomes of implementation from the 17 original activities. In September 2021 at the Conference, TATFAR released its latest progress report on achievements during the last implementation period (2016-2020).

In 2015, Canada and Norway were invited to become members. In 2021, UK was added to the membership.

For more information

• TATFAR
• EU Action on AMR