High-level AMR Meeting at UN Headquarters: Global leaders call for unified preparedness, coordinated action to address silent pandemic

High-level AMR Meeting at UN Headquarters: Global leaders call for unified preparedness, coordinated action to address silent pandemic

Sub : Sci

Sec: health

Context:

• The inaugural session of the highly anticipated high-level meeting on antimicrobial resistance (AMR), commenced on September 26 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
• Focused on global preparedness to address AMR, described as a ‘silent pandemic’

Key Participants:

• H.E. Philemon Yang, President of the United Nations General Assembly
• Representatives from UN, WHO, FAO, WOAH, UNEP
• Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance
• UN Economic and Social Council
• World Bank
• AMR survivor

Main agenda:

• Urgent need for global action on AMR
• Call for sustainable production and use of antimicrobials
• Emphasis on supporting developing countries, which bear the greatest AMR burden
• Importance of the ‘One Health’ approach (human, animal, environmental health)

Key Concerns:

• Lack of new antibiotics in development
• Limited access to existing antimicrobials
• Only 11% of countries have allocated budgets for AMR action plans

Future Actions:

• WHO to establish an independent panel on AMR evidence by next year
• Update to the global action plan by 2026
• Establishment of an independent science-based panel
• Target of raising $100 million to support Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs)

Quadripartite Principles:

• The Quadripartiteaims to achieve together what no one sector can achieve alone.
• It consists of four main agencies: 
  • Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO),
  • United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP),
  • World Health Organization (WHO) and
  • World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH)
• At their first annual face-to-face meeting, the heads of the Quadripartite organizations working on One Health issued an unprecedented call for enhanced global action.
• Call to action from the Quadripartite leaders:

1. Prioritize One Health in international politics and promote intersectoral health governance.
2. Strengthen national One Health policies, strategies, and plans in line with the Quadripartite One Health Joint Plan of Action (OH JPA).
3. Accelerate implementation of One Health plans, including national governance and multisectoral coordination.
4. Build intersectoral One Health workforces through joint education in human, animal, and environmental health.
5. Focus on preventing pandemics and health threats at their source, particularly zoonotic spillovers.
6. Encourage One Health scientific knowledge exchange, research, and technology sharing.
7. Increase investment and financing for One Health strategies at all levels.

Source: DTE