One Health: FAO, UNEP, WHO and WOAH launch research agenda for antimicrobial resistance

Subject :Science and technology

Section: Health

Context:

Four multilateral agencies have launched a priority research agenda on June 28, 2023 to better advocate for increased research and investment in antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Initiatives on AMR:

The ‘Quadripartite’ released the One Health Priority Research Agenda on Antimicrobial Resistance through a webinar. Quadripartite includes:
- The United Nations (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO),
- The UN Environment Programme (UNEP),
- The World Health Organization (WHO) and
- The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH)
The organisations work specifically in the areas of human, animal, plant, and environmental health.
WHO also launched a global research agenda for AMR in human health on June 22, 2023.
- The agenda prioritises 40 research topics for evidence generation to inform policy and interventions by 2030.
- It also aims to guide a variety of stakeholders in generating new evidence to address antimicrobial resistance, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries.
The agenda will serve as a guide for countries, research institutes and funding bodies to support One Health AMR research. It will also allow policymakers, researchers, and the multidisciplinary scientific community to collaborate across sectors.

One Health:

It defined ‘One Health’ as an integrated, unifying approach that aims to sustainably balance and optimise the health of people, animals and ecosystems.
The concept acknowledges the health of humans, domestic and wild animals, plants, and the larger environment, including ecosystems, are inextricably linked and interdependent.
At this One Health interface, addressing global health issues necessitates a multisectoral, multidisciplinary response to AMR.
Using a mixed-methods approach, global experts identified five key pillars as well as three cross-cutting themes, namely gender, vulnerable populations, and sustainability, as follows:

Transmission

This pillar focuses on the environment, plant, animal, and human sectors where AMR transmission, circulation and spread occur.
This includes what drives this transmission across these areas, where these interactions occur, and the impact on different sectors.

Integrated surveillance

This pillar aims to identify cross-cutting priority research questions in order to improve common technical understanding and information exchange among One Health stakeholders.
The surveillance aims for harmonisation, effectiveness, and implementation of integrated surveillance with a focus on LMICs.

Interventions

This pillar focuses on programmes, practises, tools, and activities aimed at preventing, containing, or reducing the incidence, prevalence, and spread of AMR.
This also calls for the best use of existing vaccines, as well as other One Health-related measures to reduce AMR.

Behavioural Insights and Change

The priority research areas under this pillar are concerned with comprehending behaviour across various groups and actors involved in the development and spread of AMR at the One Health interface.
It focuses on research addressing human behaviour that affects AMR, including ways to combat it.

Economics and policy

From a One Health standpoint, this pillar addressed investment and action in AMR prevention and control.
This pillar also takes into account the cost-effectiveness of an AMR investment case, financial sustainability, and long-term financial impact.

About Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR):

Antimicrobial Resistance is the resistance acquired by any microorganism (bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, etc.) against antimicrobial drugs that are used to treat infections.
It occurs when a microorganism changes over time and no longer responds to medicines making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has identified AMR as one of the top ten threats to global health.
Microorganisms that develop antimicrobial resistance are sometimes referred to as “superbugs”.