PROGRAMME

Antibiotic resistance (AR) has been identified as one of the biggest threats to global health and food security by the World Health Organization [1]. Therefore, it is vital to have data exchange platforms for studies of antibiotic resistance bacteria (ARB) and antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) in the environment. The NORMAN Association has developed the NORMAN Antibiotic Resistance Bacteria/Genes Database (NORMAN ARB&ARG), which is the first open platform for exchange of occurrence data and analytical methods of ARB and ARGs that follows the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) principles [2]. The FAIR principles are embraced by the European Union, authorities and agencies are transforming their data in a FAIR manner [3]. The present article provides an overview on the infrastructures of the database, the extraction of data from the database and the contribution of data to the database. In this study, the AR data from 3 studies performed in Asia were extracted and successfully imported into the NORMAN ARB&ARG [4-6]. The feasibility study demonstrates how the scientific community can share their data on investigation of AR to generate knowledge for mitigating AR pollution. AR data of the selected studies are available on the NORMAN ARB&ARG. The open and FAIR data on the database are of high potential of regulatory application, including the development of emission limit values of ARGs in effluent wastewater. The growth in sharing of data and analytical methods in investigation of AR could foster collaboration on risk management of AR worldwide, and facilitate the harmonization in identification and surveillance of critical hotspots of AR.