The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), together with the World Health Organization (WHO) and World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), is calling for stakeholder feedback on a proposed approach for tracking global progress in the fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Antimicrobial resistance, or AMR, is a growing threat to life and livelihoods worldwide, and occurs when pathogens become immune to the substances (“antimicrobials”) used to treat them.

Without global action to curb the loss of effective antimicrobials and the spread of resistant microbes, by 2050, an estimated 10,000,000 people will die every year, significant production losses will threaten food security, and the global economy may be stripped of an estimated USD 100 trillion.^1,2

All UN member countries have endorsed the Global Action Plan (GAP) to combat AMR, which requires an integrative, cross-sectoral approach known as “One Health”. Political leaders at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) special session in September 2016 have also endorsed the GAP in their Political Declaration on AMR.

The GAP sets out responsibilities for how national governments, tripartite organizations – FAO, WHO and OIE – and other national and international partners respond to AMR.

GAP implementation needs to be monitored and evaluated (M&E) to assess whether sufficient progress is being made and to identify opportunities for improvement; it is also vital to track the outcomes of GAP implementation with respect to impact on AMR.

This is the aim of the “One Health” M&E approach jointly developed by FAO, WHO and OIE. The document, Monitoring and Evaluation of the Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance: Proposed approach, Draft August 2017, is now available online for public review and comment until 5pm Geneva time, 30^th September, 2017.

To access this document and consultation questionnaire, please visit: https://extranet.who.int/datacol/survey.asp?survey_id=3710

The aim of this online consultation is to gather wider perspective on the proposed M&E approach fromrepresentatives of country governments and organisations with a technical or managerial remit related to national and international responses to AMR,including private sector, industry bodies, research institutions and civil society.

It is requested that only one representative from each institution submit a response on behalf of the organization as a whole, rather than as an individual. To do this, we strongly encourage each organization to conduct an internal consultation process first, and then nominate one individual to enter the approved, collective response.

Feedback submitted will be considered during finalisation of the draft M&E indicators and approach. There will not be individual responses provided to contributor feedback, but feedback will be published online, and attributed to relevant institutions (not individuals).

The consultation is open until 17:00 (Geneva time) on 30^th September 2017.

For any further information, please contact the WHO AMR Secretariat, who will coordinate with FAO and OIE: [email protected] 

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^[1] O’Neill, O.J. 2016. Tackling Drug-Resistant Infections Globally: Final Report and Recommendations. The Review on Antimicrobial Resistance.

^[2] Smith R. and Coast J. 2013. The true cost of antimicrobial resistance. BMJ 346, f1493.

Related Links:

• Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance
• The FAO Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance 2016-2020
• Antimicrobial Resistance and our Food Systems: Challenges and Solutions