*A video message by Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has been released on the Prime Minister’s Office of Japan website.(Japanese Only) (September 26, 2024)

Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) and AMR Alliance Japan hosted a side event on the 25th of September in conjunction with the 79th UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in New York City. The event titled, “Global Action on AMR: Advancing Healthy Longevity and Sustainability under UHC” brought together a panel of experts from government, industry, academia, and civil society including AMR survivors.

The discussions centered on AMR contributions from Japan and expectations towards future international collaboration for better AMR policy around the world. The event was followed by a networking reception where participants and panelists engaged in a lively exchange of ideas and views on AMR, our society, and our future.

In commemoration of this side event, Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida sent a pre-recorded video message and Dame Sally Davies UK Government Special Envoy on Antimicrobial Resistance sent a pre-written message.

The second UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) was held on 26 September, for the first time in eight years since 2016. AMR was placed again on the agenda where this time a political declaration was adopted to accelerate implementation to tackle the challenges posed by AMR.
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*A summary of the discussion points from this side event will be published in due course.

[Overview]

• Date & Time: September 25, 2024; 14:00-16:00 (EDT)
• Venue: The Nippon Club (145 West 57th Street, New York, NY 10019)
• Language: English
• Host: Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI), AMR Alliance Japan
• Co-host: Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan
• In partnership with: AMR Multi-Stakeholder Partnership Platform, CARB-X, GARDP, International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE) and Japan Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association (JPMA)
• Supported by: Nikkei FT Communicable Disease Conference

[Program] (titles omitted; in alphabetical order, EDT)

Message from Dame Sally Davies

AMR impacts all of us. Over 1.1million people died from AMR in 2021, and by 2050, more than 39million people will die. They could be any one of us, from anywhere in the world, although the burden falls the greatest in western sub-Saharan Africa, Tropical Latin America, high-income North America, Southeast Asia, and South Asia. That’s why this High-Level Meeting is key to driving global action and I am grateful to HGPI and the AMR Alliance Japan for corralling ambition and action, and for the crucial demonstration of support from Fumio Kishida, Prime Minister of Japan. The High-Level Meeting will put access at the heart of our action:

• Access to antibiotics, which could save 92 million lives between 2025 and 2050.
  
• Access to sustainable financing – we need to leverage and make accessible the financing that is already out there in multilateral streams and development banks to fund National Action Plans on AMR.
  
• Access to education, scaling up some of the fantastic initiatives across the world, such as AMR art and drama clubs for schools in Tanzania.

The first key step will be Member States agreeing to establish a new independent science panel on AMR, which we desperately need to assess the evidence that is out there and inform future targets and interventions. I hope the panel will be based at the UN Environment Programme HQ in Nairobi – so it can look at human, animal and environmental aspects of AMR, and be rooted where the burden of AMR is greatest. I look forward to working with you all to deliver on our commitments and making progress to stop 39 million people dying by 2050. Everyone can play a personal and professional role in how they use antibiotics, consume meat, and raise awareness. We can do it, together.

Dame Sally Davies
Special Envoy on Antimicrobial Resistance for the United Kingdom