HGPI submitted a statement as an officially authorized and invited participant at the multi-stakeholder hearing for the UN General Assembly High-level Meeting on AMR.

The multi-stakeholder hearing is hosted by the Secretary-General of the UN General Assembly as one of the preparatory meetings for the UN General Assembly High-level Meeting to be held in September 2024. The hearing was held based on Resolution 78/269 adopted at the 78th UN General Assembly held in 2023-2024, with the support of the Quadripartite, consisting of the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), and related organizations.

Key points of the statement

• AMR is a structural challenge for the health system and a cross-sectoral challenge. It is necessary to integrate the perspective of AMR countermeasures into the activities of vertical international partnerships that focus on specific disease countermeasures, and allocate human and financial resources to AMR countermeasures.
• The international community needs to learn from climate change countermeasures and ESG investment movements, recognize private financial institutions as partners in AMR countermeasures, and work together with them.
• AMR is also a cross-sectoral challenge that spans humans, animals, and the environment, so a one-health approach based on scientific discussion is important. Similar to “Health in All Policies,” cross-sectoral and cross-sectoral efforts based on the idea of “AMR in All Policies” are expected.
• In particular, in promoting cross-sectoral AMR countermeasures, it is necessary to identify the roles of not only the international community, regions, nations, and communities, but also local governments.
• It is necessary to promote research and development of antibiotics through the introduction of push and pull incentives, while keeping in mind the harmony with the appropriate use and access of antibiotics. In addition, testing plays a large role in the appropriate use of antibiotics. The promotion of testing and diagnostic support needs to be considered in conjunction with Resolution WHA76.5 “Strengthening diagnostics capacity” adopted at the 76th World Health Assembly in 2023.
• Human resource development and capacity building in the field of infectious diseases, including AMR, needs to be accelerated. The decline and brain drain of infectious disease drug discovery researchers, infectious disease specialists, and companies that handle infectious disease drugs, testing equipment, and reagents are urgent issues for the international community.

(Photographed by: British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (BSAC))