By Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) continues to pose a major problem to world public well being, with devastating results on the efficacy of important medicines and the power to successfully deal with infectious ailments. Several elements, together with a excessive inhabitants density, restricted entry to healthcare companies, and the misuse and exploitation of antimicrobials, make the South-East Asia area significantly liable to this risk.

AMR is immediately accountable for roughly 1.27 million deaths yearly worldwide, with present estimates putting the variety of casualties in South Asia at 389 000. If no motion is taken now, it’s estimated that by 2050, ten million fatalities will happen yearly on a world scale, costing the worldwide financial system a complete of 100 trillion {dollars}. By 2050, in line with a report by the World Bank, antimicrobial resistance can be accountable for a lower of as much as 3.8% in world exports, a lower of seven.5% per 12 months in livestock manufacturing, and a rise of $1 trillion in healthcare-related prices.

Addressing AMR entails interdisciplinary collaboration that transcends geographical, skilled, and disciplinary obstacles. Therefore, our area has been taking proactive measures to fight AMR. In 2011, by way of the Jaipur Declaration on Antimicrobial Resistance, the well being ministers of the area urged coordinated motion in opposition to AMR. In 2014, the battle in opposition to AMR was elevated to Flagship Priority standing. Since then, the World Health Organization (WHO) has been supporting Member States on implementation of AMR nationwide motion plans (NAPs) extra successfully.

World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW) is commemorated with the intention of enhancing consciousness and comprehension of AMR whereas selling optimum practices among the many public, multisector stakeholders, and policymakers. This 12 months, the WAAW has been rebranded as World Antimicrobial Resistance Awareness Week by the Quadripartite organizations, which encompass the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Health group (WHO), and the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH). The inclusion of the time period “resistance” within the acronym “AMR” extra precisely characterizes the issue we tackle.

The theme of this 12 months’s World AMR Awareness Week (WAAW) stays “Preventing Antimicrobial Resistance Together”, as in 2022. This theme emphasizes the necessity for collective efforts throughout many sectors to advertise the accountable utilization of antimicrobial brokers and improve preventive methods geared toward combating AMR. It underscores the significance of adopting a collaborative strategy primarily based on the One Health framework. One Health is the popularity and understanding that the well being of people, animals, and the surroundings are interconnected and interdependent. This holistic strategy considers the well being of all dwelling beings and the ecosystems they inhabit as interconnected and mutually influencing. It is crucial to foster collaboration amongst many sectors and stakeholders concerned within the domains of human, terrestrial, and aquatic animal and plant well being, in addition to meals and feed manufacturing and environmental conservation. This collaboration ought to embody efficient communication, strategic planning, and concerted efforts in the direction of shared goals.

In order to take care of and expedite progress, it’s crucial to strengthen multisectoral coordination, which facilitates the event and implementation of insurance policies and laws associated to AMR. Collaboration amongst completely different sectors permits for the alignment of insurance policies, laws, and tips, making certain consistency and coherence in approaches throughout sectors. It permits the harmonization of surveillance methods, antimicrobial stewardship programmes, an infection prevention and management measures, and the regulation of antimicrobial use in human and animal well being.

Preventing Antimicrobial Resistance isn’t a accountability that may be borne by anyone particular person, group, or nation. It is a collective effort that requires our unwavering dedication. Let us use this week to replicate on the significance of collaboration, be taught from each other, and renew our dedication to deal with this multi-faceted problem head-on.

We are at a essential juncture in our battle in opposition to AMR, and the alternatives we make right now will profoundly have an effect on the well being and well-being of generations to come back. Let us embrace this World Antimicrobial Resistance Week with a renewed spirit of cooperation and a agency resolve to protect these essential medicines for the betterment of humanity and the planet.

Together, we will make a distinction, and collectively, we will stop antimicrobial resistance.