What is the Canadian Integrated Program for Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance (CIPARS)?
CIPARS is a nationally integrated antimicrobial resistance surveillance program developed by the Public Health Agency of Canada in collaboration with Health Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and provincial partners. One of the key objectives of CIPARS is to monitor trends in the development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the food chain. To facilitate the comparison of data, CIPARS has been modelled after international initiatives such as the US National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) and the Danish Integrated Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring and Research Programme (DANMAP). In March 2005, CIPARS released its Second Annual Report summarizing data collected during 2003 on antimicrobial resistance from human and animal samples.