Inappropriate use of medicines is not just in human health but also in animal health, food and agriculture
The misuse and overuse of antimicrobial drugs in human health, animal health and livestock, food and agriculture, are fuelling AMR. Additionally, environmental pollution - such as untreated hospital and community wastewater, pharmaceutical effluents, and agricultural run-off - plays a growing role in enabling resistant pathogens to emerge and persist across sectors. The consequences of AMR are far-reaching, affecting human and animal health, food safety and security, and placing additional strains on healthcare systems and economies.
Addressing AMR requires urgent, coordinated action and sustained commitment from governments and diverse sectors across the One Health spectrum, said Dr Jean-Pierre Nyemazi, Director of the Quadripartite Joint Secretariat on AMR. The Quadripartite Joint Secretariat has brought 4 global agencies on human health (WHO), food and agriculture (FAO), environment (UNEP) and animal health (WOAH) together to address AMR using the One Health approach.
Today, 1 out of every 6 bacterial infections confirmed in the laboratory is resistant to antibiotics, said Dr Javier Yugueros-Marcos, Head of the Antimicrobial Resistance & Veterinary Products Department, World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH).
AMR is already linked to nearly 5 million deaths each year, including 1.14 million deaths directly caused by bacterial AMR. That is 2 lives lost every minute. Since 2016, countries have worked hard to prevent AMR. Over 90% of the countries (178 countries) have national AMR action plans. But only 22% are fully implementing the national AMR action plans with monitoring and financing in place. So, that is why world leaders stepped up last year in 2024 with another bold commitment enshrined in the Political Declaration adopted in the UNGA 2024 High Level Meeting: 60% of countries must have fully funded national AMR action plans and implement them, said Dr Nyemazi.
For us to reach that goal, governments also committed to mobilise at least US$ 100 million by 2030, including through AMR Multi-Partner Trust Fund (AMR MPTF) and other mechanisms. This is a powerful signal that the world understands the urgency and shared responsibility. However, technical solutions alone won't win this fight. We need a shared responsibility, said Dr Nyemazi.
"AMR is invisible but I am not"
"AMR is invisible, but the WHO was smart enough to recognise the value of stories of those with lived experiences of AMR," said Rob Purdie, AMR survivor and Member of WHO Task Force of AMR Survivors.
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