Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time. As a result of drug resistance, antibiotics and other antimicrobial medicines become ineffective and infections become increasingly difficult or impossible to treat- increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the ease with which infections can spread, threaten global health security and destabilize economies, lives and livelihoods. AMR is a rising pandemic and challenges the effective delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Currently, at least an estimated 700,000 people die each year due to drug-resistant diseases. If no action is taken, drug-resistant diseases could cause 10 million deaths each year by 2050 and damage to the economy as catastrophic as the 2008-2009 global financial crisis; and by 2030, AMR could force up to 24 million people into extreme poverty2. As a present and growing pandemic, AMR may be considered a central part of future pandemic preparedness.

In September 2019, the UN high-level meeting on universal health coverage (UHC) adopted a political declaration which called for a discussion on AMR during the seventy-fourth session of the General Assembly. Originally scheduled for March 2020, this High-Level Interactive Dialogue has been rescheduled for April 29, 2021 after being postponed due to COVID-19. 

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Objective

The General Assembly High-Level Interactive Dialogue on Tackling AMR is an important opportunity to strengthen political commitment, take stock of progress, recommit to actions, and build back better from COVID-19 by agreeing further practical steps that can effectively address challenges to tackling AMR as part of future pandemic preparedness through a One Health approach while supporting the delivery of the SDGs.

Call to Action

The Group of Friends on Tackling AMR presented a “Call to Action on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) -2021” to raise global ambition on AMR whilst accommodating diverse national circumstances.

Call to Action on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) - 2021

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Civil Society

Civil society representatives are invited to submit their questions for the four interactive panels at the Debate by April 23rd, 2021 at: https://t.co/TgIuX86DKY?amp=1 

 

Programme

10:00-10:30 am
Opening Segment 

H.E. Mr. Volkan Bozkir, President of the 75th Session of the UN General Assembly
Ms. Amina J. Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary-General
H.E. Ms. Sheikh Hasina, Prime Minister, People’s Republic of Bangladesh; Co-chair of the One Health Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance
H.E. Ms. Mia Mottley, Prime Minister, Barbados; Co-chair of the One Health Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance
Mr. Qu Dongyu, Director-General, Food and Agriculture Organization
Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization
Dr. Monique Eloit, Director-General, World Organisation for Animal Health
Ms. Joyce Msuya, Deputy Executive Director, UN Environment Programme

10:45 am-11:45 am
Panel 1: AMR in the context of COVID-19

AMR – referred to as a ‘silent tsunami’ – has the potential to be the next global health crisis and has already affected our response to COVID-19. As the world grapples with the devastating impacts of the pandemic and looks towards the future, this is a critical opportunity to include AMR in our recovery. This includes and the need to apply the ‘One Health’ approach to build back better and achieve the SDGs, including SDGs 1, 3, 5, 8, 10 and 12, and especially for people living in LMICs, and in vulnerable situations. 

Moderator:
Mr. Sherwin Bryce-Pease, UN Bureau Chief of the South African Broadcasting Cooperation (SABC)

Panelists:
Ms. Henrietta Fore, Executive Director, UNICEF
Dr. Seth Berkley, CEO, Global Vaccine Alliance
Sir Jeremy Farrar, Director, Wellcome Trust
Dr. Mirfin Mpundu, Director, ReAct Africa
Dr. Carlos Correa, Executive Director, South Centre
Dr. Ramanan Laxminarayan, Director, Center For Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy

11:45 am-1:00 pm
Panel 2: Overview of global progress on AMR and vision of the Global Leaders Group 

Overview of the current global progress including work of the Tripartite – WHO, FAO and OIE on AMR, recommendations by the Inter Agency Coordination Group (IACG) on AMR, mapping of global commitments to date, and presentation of the One Health Global Leaders Group vision.

Moderator:
Mr. Sherwin Bryce-Pease, UN Bureau Chief of the South African Broadcasting Cooperation (SABC)

Panelists:
Dr. Hanan H. Balkhy, Assistant Director-General for AMR, WHO
Prof Dame Sally Davies, UK Special Envoy on Antimicrobial Resistance, and Sherpa of GLG
Ms. Sunita Narain, Director-General, Centre for Science and Environment, India and member of GLG
Dr. Jeffrey Scott Weese, Professor at the University of Guelph, Director of the Centre for Public Health and Zoonoses, Chief of Infection Control at Ontario Veterinary College, member of GLG
Prof. C.O. Onyebuchi Chukwu, Former Minister of Health, Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery, Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Nigeria, member of GLG

3:00 pm-4:15 pm
Panel 3: Tackling AMR at country level

Case studies of AMR national action plan (NAP) design and implementation; linking AMR to development work e.g. data/surveillance, SDG indicator on AMR, and UN development cooperation frameworks.

Moderator:
Ms. Elizabeth Cousens, President and CEO of UN Foundation

Panelists:
H.E. Ms. Lena Hallengren, Minister of Health and Social Affairs, Sweden, member of GLG
Hon. Dr. Iferemi Waqanibete, Minister for Health and Medical Services, Fiji
H.E. Mr. Mikhail Murashko, Minister of Health, Russian Federation
Hon. Kwaku Agyeman Manu, Minister of Health, Ghana
H.E. Ms. Yu Yanhong, Vice Minister, China National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, National Health Commission
H.E. Mr. Juan Ramon de la Fuente, Permanent Representative of Mexico to the UN, Former Minister of Health, Mexico
Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the United States
Dr. Vera Katalinić Janković, Special Advisor to the Minister of Health for AMR and One Health Approach, Croatia

4:15 pm-5:30 pm
Panel 4: Ensuring sufficient and sustainable AMR financing

Discussions regarding the current state of financing; needed investments in strengthening health systems, and in the research and development of new of new drugs to address the lack of new classes of antibiotics currently in the pipeline; an overview of the work of the AMR multi-partner trust fund; ensuring agency-specific AMR work funding; and sharing of best practices and innovative solutions

Moderator:
Ms. Elizabeth Cousens, President and CEO of UN Foundation

Panelists:
Dr. Jens Spahn, Federal Minister of Health, Germany
Mr. Roland Driece, Director of International Affairs, Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport, Netherlands
Dr. Muhammad Pate, Global Director, Health, Nutrition and Population (HNP) Global Practice, World Bank
Ms. Julie Gerberding, Executive Vice President and Chief Patient Officer, Merck
Ms. Maria Lettini, Executive Director, FAIRR Initiative
Ms. Alexandra de Athayde, Executive Director, the International Feed Industry Federation (IFIF)

5:30-6:00 pm
Call to Action

Rt Hon Matt Hancock, Member of Parliament, Secretary of State for Health & Social Care; Co-chair & Secretariat of the Group of Friends of AMR
H.E. Dr. Zweli Lawrence Mkhize, Minister of Health, South Africa
H.E. Ms. Yu Yanhong, Vice Minister, China National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, National Health Commission

Key Documents