The Netherlands

National AMR research program
National action plans
MB representatives

The Netherlands is represented in JPIAMR by ZonMw, which is the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development.

ZonMw is a national organisation that promotes quality and innovation in the field of health research and health care, initiating and fostering new developments. ZonMw also actively promotes knowledge transfer and implementation, ensuring knowledge is exchanged between all relevant stakeholders (health researchers, health professionals, patients/ consumers and the general public). This in turn facilitates the structured implementation of newly developed knowledge and ensures that emerging health care issues are on the research agenda.

The majority of ZonMw’s commissions come from the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (VWS) and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO). The Ministry’s main concern is to contribute to public health, including prevention and health care services. NWO is a non-governmental organisation concerned with fundamental and strategic research. As the national research council, it plays a key role in the development of science, technology and culture in the Netherlands. With regard to AMR ZonMw also cooperates with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and with WOTRO, Science for Global Development.

National AMR research program and activities

AMR Research program

  • ZonMw AMR; 2009-2018
  • ZonMw ABR; 2016-2023
  • ZonMw JPI-EC-AMR
  • JPIAMR ACTION
  • ZonMw AMR3; 2023-2026

ZonMw has a competitive funding scheme. Other initiatives that are supporting and/or facilitating AMR research: NWO, NWA, RIVM, ZonMw GGG, ZonMw IZB, ZonMw Fundamental Research, NADP, NCOH

Other AMR initiatives (not elaborate): AMR global, MARAN + NethMap, SWAB, ABR zorgnetwerken, i-4-1-Health, 1Health4Food, ALTANT, AMR Insights, CARES, CeSAM, Eenheid van taal in ABR, EurHealth-1Health, health-i-care, FIGON, KNCV TB

National AMR research calls

  • AMR 1st round; 2010
  • AMR 2nd round; 2011
  • AMR 3rd round; 2014
  • ABR 1st round; 2016
  • ABR 2nd round; 2017
  • ABR 3rd round; 2019

Activities on AMR actions at national level

  • FAIRification Development of FAIR data models and machine readable metadata schemes (‘metadata for machines’ or M4M). To improve interoperability of data and metadata, ZonMw stimulates researchers to choose standards (etc) that are commonly used within their research domain. In addition, ZonMw started in some programmes to organise activities for research communities to agree on such preferred relevant standards and technologies. This has been done for AMR and Infectious Diseases, and for COVID-19.
  • Development of a national follow up programme on antimicrobial resistance, starting in 2023.
  • Antimicrobial resistance in the Netherlands stable in 2020 Report on AMR
  • AMR conference: ‘Antibiotic resistance: From research to practice and policy. What does this have to do with you?’ (14-11- 2018, Driebergen, the Netherlands)
  • Ministerial conference: ‘Second Ministerial Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance’ (19/20-6-2019, Noordwijk, the Netherlands). Organized by the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport.
  • Evaluation of the national programme antibiotic resistance of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport
  • Invitational Conference: ‘ABR policy for the coming years’ (18-11-2019, Gouda, the Netherlands)
  • National ABR call on antibiotic resistance and reuse of data (2019) Researchers were challenged to make use of existing data and to make it more FAIR.
  • Letters to parliament regarding antibiotic resistance (in Dutch)
  • NethMap Maran report 2021: Consumption of antimicrobial agents and antimicrobial resistance among medically important bacteria in the Netherlands in 2020, and Monitoring of Antimicrobial Resistance and Antibiotic Usage in Animals in the Netherlands in 2020
  • AMR Benchmark 2020: The second Antimicrobial Resistance Benchmark compares how a cross-section of the pharmaceutical industry is responding to the threat from drug-resistant infections. The Antimicrobial Resistance Benchmark research programme is made possible with financial support from UK AID and the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport.
  • Roadmap on correct use of antibiotics in primary care (08-04-2020, in Dutch)

National action plans

  • National AMR action plan has been evaluated in 2019. In 2020, the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport will present a follow up on this plan.

Management Board representative

  • Seven Merik, ZonMw
  • Linda van Gaalen, ZonMw