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• The diagnostic gap hides the true extent of antimicrobial resistance in Africa. • Conventional laboratory diagnostics are unlikely to bridge this gap. • Various point-of-care assays for antimicrobial resistance applications are in development. • Implementation strategies for point-of-care assays are needed to close the diagnostic gap. Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries are severely impacted by antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Due to gaps in access to diagnostics in SSA, the true extent of AMR remains unknown. This diagnostic gap affects patient management and leads to significant antimicrobial overuse. This review explores how point-of-care (POC) testing for pathogen identification and AMR may be used to close the diagnostic gap in SSA countries. A narrative review exploring current clinical practice and novel developments in the field of POC testing for infectious diseases and AMR. POC assays for identification of various pathogens have been successfully rolled out in SSA countries. While implementation studies have mostly highlighted impressive test performance of POC assays, there is limited data on the impact of implementation on clinical outcomes and cost-effectiveness. We did not encounter local studies of host-directed POC assays relevant to AMR. Novel POC assays using real-time polymerase chain reaction, isothermal amplification, microfluidics, and other technologies are in various stages of development. Available literature shows that POC testing for AMR applications is implementable in SSA and holds the potential to reduce the diagnostic gap. Implementation will require effective regulatory pathways, incorporation of POC testing in clinical and laboratory guidelines, and adequate value capture in existing health financing models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The COVID-19 pandemic has helped challenge the usual way of doing research. • A prolonged on-site presence at the early stage of projects is critical. • Research should rely on a capacity-building strategy to provide local skills. • Funding should be proportionate to the cost of resources and gaps in each low middle income countries setting. This article summarizes the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, on an international project to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The research leadership and process, the access to data, and stakeholders were deeply disrupted by the national and international response to the pandemic, including the interruption of healthcare delivery, lockdowns, and quarantines. The key principles to deliver the research through the pandemic were mainly the high degree of interdisciplinary engagement with integrated teams, and equitable partnership across sites with capacity building and leadership training. The level of preexisting collaboration and partnership were also keys to sustaining connections and involvements throughout the pandemic. The pandemic offered opportunities for realigning research priorities. Flexibility in funding timelines and projects inputs are required to accommodate variance introduced by external factors. The current models for research collaboration and funding need to be critically evaluated and redesigned to retain the innovation that was shown to be successful through this pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]