Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance in Food and Agriculture
20 November 2019, Washington, DC – To address the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance in food and agriculture, FAO and the World Bank convened a webinar exploring the challenges and actions underway during the World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW), which took place from 18 to 24 November. The session was moderated by Thomas Pesek, Senior Liaison Officer at FAO North America, and featured experts from the World Bank and FAO.
“One of the greatest global health threats that we have today is antimicrobial resistance,” emphasized Juan Lubroth, Chief Veterinary Officer and AMR Coordinator at FAO. While antimicrobials are vital to defend people, animals and plants against infections, their misuse and overuse can lead to their failure, as microbes develop resistance to these life-saving treatments. The over-reliance is not only a threat to public health, but also to the sustainability of the livestock sector, upon which millions of farmers depend. Left unchecked, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) could lead to 10 million deaths per year.
“Antimicrobial resistance will put millions of people into poverty, which makes it a central issue for the World Bank,” emphasized Franck Berthe, Livestock Specialist at the World Bank. According to a World Bank study, the cost of AMR containment in low- and middle-income countries is estimated at US $9 billion annually through 2050. The cost without containment is expected to be 400 times more.
To support the global commitment to combat AMR in food and agriculture, the FAO Governing Council adopted the FAO Action Plan on AMR (2016-2020) in 2016. Lina Yu, Animal Health Officer at FAO, provided an in-depth overview of the key components and the implementation of the FAO Action Plan. The plan addresses four areas:
- improve awareness on AMR and related threats;
- develop capacity for surveillance and monitoring of AMR and AMU (antimicrobial use) in food and agriculture;
- strengthen governance related to AMU and AMR in food and agriculture; and
- promote good practices in food and agricultural systems and the prudent use of antimicrobials; and
“Several tools were developed by FAO to provide support to member countries on these areas. To date, 117 countries have developed a national action plan on AMR,” said Yu.
Koen Mintiens, AMR Program Specialist at FAO, highlighted the recently launched Progressive Management Pathway for Antimicrobial Resistance (FAO-PMP-AMR). The tool “is a progressive approach that helps countries identify priority areas for action and concrete activities that can be undertaken to make progress, step-by step, to implement a National “One Health” Action Plan towards better management of AMR and prudent use of antimicrobials,” added Mintiens.
Throughout the awareness week, activities took place around the world to raise awareness around the threat of AMR and the need for actions to ward off the serious risks it poses to human, animal and plant health. In an effort to expand the partnership to counter antimicrobial resistance, the UN Environment Programme announced that it is joining forces FAO, WHO and OIE, forming the tripartite plus group during WAAW 2019.
More resources
FAO’s work on Antimicrobial Resistance
FAO Reference Centres for antimicrobial resistance
Drug-Resistant Infections: A Threat to Our Economic Future
No Time to Wait: Securing the Future from Drug-Resistance Infections
World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW) Communications materials on Trello
FAO, OIE and WHO video message for World Antibiotic Awareness Week
Watch ‘We all can take action now to keep antimicrobials working as they should!’