Asia Pacific countries pledge to fight antimicrobial resistance
Representatives from countries in Asia Pacific have pledged to take immediate action to combat the further spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), as part of a global response and joint effort in line with the World Antibiotic Awareness Week.
The pledge reaffirms a wider commitment to combat AMR and increase awareness about the scale of the problem in order to stop the emergence and accelerating misuse of antimicrobial medicines in humans and animals.
AMR is the result of microorganisms developing resistance to antimicrobials, making illnesses in humans and animals harder to treat. The increase in AMR cases globally is caused by the overuse and misuse of antimicrobials in humans and animals as well as in plants.
When AMR occurs in farm animals, where farmers often routinely give antibiotics to their livestock, the resistance can be transferred to humans through the food chain or other routes.
“AMR is important to you, your family, your community and everyone else on the planet,” said FAO’s Chief Veterinary Officer Dr. Juan Lubroth, emphasizing the threat AMR poses to both public and animal health by making disease treatment longer and more expensive.
Earlier this year, the O’Neill Report, commissioned by the UK, declared that action to fight AMR was needed immediately in order to head off a human death toll in Asia of up to 5 million annually by 2050.
The issue is so serious that, in September, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly recognized this immense threat and mobilized a global response and joint action through its specialized agencies and others.
The tripartite group composed of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), and the World Health Organization (WHO) has jointly reiterated its strong commitment to supporting worldwide efforts to curbing the effects of AMR.
The FAO-OIE-WHO collaboration hopes to consolidate efforts to support the establishment of policies and institutional and regulatory frameworks to combat AMR across the Asia Pacific region.
The three groups have agreed to pursue a ‘One Health’ approach that aims to fight AMR and other common and emerging threats to all lifeforms.
“To achieve such a change of practices, inter-sectoral coordination between the public health and veterinary sectors is essential to lead member countries to take harmonised actions and long term commitments against antimicrobial resistance,” said Hirofumi Kugita, OIE Regional Representative for Asia and the Pacific.
“Cooperation between human health, animal health and environmental health sectors is of critical importance to address AMR. This mechanism should be established both within countries and between countries, as we strive to protect the health of people in our countries, regions and at the global level,” said Poonam Khetrapal Singh, WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia.
“We must ensure that all countries follow multi-sectoral ‘One Health’ strategies with strong national action plans and coordination across all sectors, including veterinary medicine, agriculture and human health to preserve the effectiveness of these lifesaving medicines,” added Shin Young-soo, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific.
The FAO-OIE-WHO have stressed that, in order to avoid an international catastrophe, this global collaboration will needs to be accompanied by political will and affirmative action.
Category: Features, Pharmaceuticals
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