CENTRE for Science and Environment (CSE) has called for global action on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), a ‘silent pandemic’ that has devastated many countries across the globe.
The final text of the political declaration adopted at the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, which ended on Saturday (September 28, 2024), shows that countries are keen to emphasize the much-needed prevention in agro-food systems.
In a statement issued by CSE on September 27, after the UNGA high-level meeting on the global approach against AMR, it says the meeting presented a political declaration that heralds a major shift in the global response to the crisis by moving the focus on prevention in agri-food systems.
CSE Director General Sunita Narain said, “Compared to the political declaration of 2016, this year’s declaration is a big positive shift in the way the world wants to address AMR from agri-food systems.” She added, “This year’s declaration shows that there is political and global leadership for an issue that would need global cooperation for action.”
“We are pleased to note the text related to agriculture and animal health. It very well recognizes the need and importance of preventive measures, which otherwise cannot afford the cost of containing AMR,” Ms. Narain said.
In her address, Ms. Narain emphasized that nobody is safe until everybody is safe, and that AMR will require stakeholders to rethink the ways in which we do agriculture and manage the environment to minimize the impact.
The text under the agriculture and animal section of the declaration clearly acknowledges the need to prioritize and fund the implementation of measures to prevent and control infections and ensure prudent antibiotic use, such as through promoting good animal husbandry, agriculture practices, and animal health.
According to the statement by CSE, the declaration outlines key drivers that lead to inappropriate use of antimicrobials in animals and plants and encourages prudent and responsible use of antimicrobials when used prophylactically by adopting an ambitious, incremental, and country-specific approach.
CSE Director for Sustainable Food Systems Amit Kuarana said, “The need for ambitiously moving towards prudent and responsible use of antimicrobials when used for the purpose of disease prevention is acknowledged at this level.”
He said despite being a big concern, such non-therapeutic use and chemical-based prevention had failed to receive adequate attention at the global level so far.
“We are pleased to note the change in narrative,’’ Mr Kuarana said.
Earlier, in April this year, the Global Leaders Group on AMR had proposed two targets by 2030: to reduce the quantity of antimicrobials used in the agri-food system globally by at least 30-50 percent from the current level, and to eliminate the use of medically important antimicrobials for human medicine in animals for non-veterinary medical purposes, or in crop production and agri-food systems for non-phytosanitary purposes.
CSE participated in the UNGA High-Level Meeting (HLM) to talk about AMR, a serious global health threat. On Thursday, two days before the UNGA ended, Ms. Narain, who is also a member of the Global Leaders Group on AMR, spoke out on AMR with specific reference to the concerns faced by the Global South.
CSE built a credible body of work with specific reference to the concerns faced by the global south. The CSE served to bring together voices from low and middle-income (LMIC) countries as a step towards addressing the global challenge that has caused deaths in many people.
The CSE says UNGA, HLM offered an opportunity for bold and specific commitments, igniting many expectations from it as well as the political declaration that emerged from the meeting. It was resolved that the UN meeting on AMR must take into account the needs and priorities of low and middle-income countries.
The CSE further called for a need to focus on prevention, access, effective implementation, and financing of national action plans crucial from the LMIC perspective. The UNGA side event also highlighted the importance of community and civil society voices in the global AMR response for moving forward.
AMR has been a challenge in many countries, including Zambia, which has since drawn up the multi-sectorial 2017-2027 national action plan for AMR to provide a coherent framework to combat the crisis. By 2022, approximately 1.2 million people across the globe died from AMR in 2019, whose main cause is drug resistance.
Existing antibiotics are becoming ineffective, the pipeline of new antibiotics is near-dry, and access to both old and new antibiotics is a big concern to the entire world.
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