Relevant parties from around the world gathered at the Ritz-Carlton in the Red Sea city on Thursday before the 4th Global Ministerial Conference on AMR for a session focused on non-state actors – non-governmental organizations, private sector, academia and others – to work across sectors to combat “one of the most pressing global health threats and development challenges.”
The conference is expected to bring together representatives from 57 states, including 48 ministers and deputy ministers, and more than 450 participants from leading international and civil society organizations, including United Nations offices and agencies.
The aim is to move from “declaration to implementation” through multi-sector partnerships in the fight against antimicrobial resistance, which has had disastrous effects on health, economies and societies, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
A silent pandemic
When bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites stop responding to antimicrobial drugs, it is called antimicrobial resistance. Drug resistance increases the risk of disease transmission, serious illness, disability and death by rendering antibiotics and other antimicrobial drugs ineffective and making it more difficult or impossible to treat infections.
In the political declaration adopted by the General Assembly, world leaders agreed to reduce the estimated five million human deaths associated with AMR by 10 percent by 2030. They further called for sustainable national financing and catalytic financing of $100 million, to help achieve a target of at least 60 percent of countries having funded national AMR action plans of here 2030.
It also formalized the Quadripartite Joint Secretariat on Antimicrobial Resistance, which includes the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Development Program (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Agriculture (FAO), as well as the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH). , as the central coordinating structure to support the global response.
Opening session of AMR, the urgent global health and socio-economic crisis that threatens all age groups in all regions, especially the most affected low- and middle-income countries.
Saudi Minister of Health Fahad Al-Jalajel has stressed the need to adopt a One Health approach that systematically addresses obstacles that hinder progress, as AMR impacts both humans , animals and the environment. “The Jeddah meeting is a crucial opportunity to strengthen our collective global response to the risks of this silent and growing pandemic,” he said.
The meeting will address priorities including monitoring and management, capacity building, provision of finance, governance, innovation, research and development.
Political commitment at the highest level
PK Press Club is in Jeddah to cover this global conference and spoke with Kathrine Urbaez, executive director of the Geneva-based non-governmental organization (NGO) Health Diplomacy Alliance.
The Alliance focuses on advocacy and diplomacy to advance global health issues. She told us that the COVID-19 pandemic has proven the vital importance of One Health policies and cooperation and awareness raising across sectors and stakeholders.
Ms. Urbaez highlighted the need to move from commitments to practical actions and added that the General Assembly Political Declaration and the Jeddah Conference are big steps in the right direction and that political momentum must be ensured. continues. The Executive Director insisted that implementing commitments is achievable if there is political will to do so, and that it is essential to establish “a monitoring and accountability mechanism”.
She added: “We need to view antimicrobial resistance from a truly holistic global health perspective. I think it is important to involve politicians at the highest level, and not just the ministers of Health, Environment, Agriculture or Finance. We really need political commitment to advance antimicrobial resistance policies and commit to the One Health approach.
More than a health threat
The complexity of the problem, lack of funding and political will in some countries, “along with the competing health issues that governments face”, have made it difficult to move from policy documents to action, according to Julian Nyamupachitu, director Deputy of ReAct Africa, a global network that aims to catalyze action against AMR, primarily in low- and middle-income countries.
As countries review and evaluate new national plans, Ms. Nyamupachitu said ReAct Africa helps them prioritize more practical activities and use the tools they have to inform their policymaking, such as the WHO costs and budgeting.
The deputy director said the Political Declaration was an improvement on its 2016 predecessor, but it would have been “nice to see commitments, not just targets” on funding.
She said the theme “moving from declaration to implementation” was very timely and she hoped to see serious commitment from ministers in Jeddah.
“I believe that awareness has been raised. They appreciated the statistics that were shared. It is indeed a global health threat, which not only affects the health sector, nor the agriculture, environment and livestock sectors, but it is also a problem economic,” she added.
“The antibiotic market is broken”
Michiel Peters is the secretariat representative of the AMR Industry Alliance, which includes companies and industry organizations in the areas of research and development (R&D), pharmaceuticals, generics, biotechnology and diagnostics. He also represents the broader private sector on the Steering Committee of the Multi-Stakeholder AMR Partnership Platform, which was created and is facilitated by the four organizations supporting the global response.
Mr Peters said antibiotics are “fundamentally different” than any other product placed on the market “where your objective would be to sell as many as possible”. He said that with antibiotics, the goal is to get the “the right medicine to the right person when they need it”which is not always a lucrative activity. He also stressed that the development of antibiotics requires “an incredible amount of time and investment” and in many cases the drugs do not reach the market, and therefore “The antibiotic market is broken.”
Mr Peter added that there is a serious lack of government funding and incentives for antibiotic R&D, but the bigger concern is that “Researchers who are really needed to do science in laboratories are leaving this field,” unlike diseases like cancer, for example, where research is strong.
The private sector representative said much progress has been made since the first high-level meeting on AMR in 2016, but much remains to be done and “No one can solve this problem alone.”
He said the Jeddah conference and the Multi-Stakeholder Partnership Platform plenary meeting, which will take place in parallel on the closing day, are both very important to see. “not just what we can put on paper, but what we will actually do.”
