Rosa Rodriguez-Monguio appointed to newly formed WHO group

Rosa Rodriguez-Monguio, PhD, MS, a health economist and faculty member in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy, has been appointed to the newly formed Quadripartite Technical Group on the Economics of Antimicrobial Resistance (QTG-EA) at the World Health Organization (WHO).

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global public health threat and a substantial economic challenge threatening the effective prevention and treatment of infections caused by bacteria, parasites, viruses, and fungi.

Rodriguez-Monguio is also the director of the UCSF Medication Outcomes Center, a hub for pioneering research in economics and outcomes evaluation. She has worked for several international organizations and global governments in addition to the WHO, as well as for national public health programs. Her research strives to advance patient-centered outcomes and inform evidence-based decision-making.

The Quadripartite organizations are made up of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), WHO, and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH). These organizations joined forces in January 2023 in a landmark move to establish the new technical group, which brings together experts from around the world to advise the Quadripartite Organizations and the Global Leaders Group on AMR.

According to Rodriguez-Monguio, the Technical Group has been charged with advising the Quadripartite Organizations and the Global Leaders Group on three key areas:

• Defining a package of cost-effective interventions to combat AMR
• Estimating the costs associated with AMR and the benefits derived from targeted interventions
• Developing a toolbox for countries to select AMR interventions, conduct economic analyses, and create investment cases to support multisectoral national action plan implementation

The group’s crucial responsibilities are to tackle these areas across each of the WHO’s One Health settings––human health, animal health, environmental health, agri-food, and plant health.

“It is with great honor that I serve in this technical capacity and contribute to the global effort to understand the scope and impact of antimicrobial resistance,” Rodriguez-Monguio said. “The Technical Group will be instrumental in identifying priorities and requirements essential for bolstering countries’ capacity to implement effective, sector-specific, and multisectoral strategies.”

“As members of the Quadripartite Technical Group,” she added, “we will offer advice and guidance on the most cost-effective interventions to mitigate AMR, both on a global scale and within individual countries and regions. Our aim is to determine the costs, benefits, feasibility, and long-term sustainability of these interventions, all with the ultimate goal of improving health outcomes in communities and healthcare settings across diverse socioeconomic contexts.”