FAO Viet Nam is leading the implementation of the Project: ‘Working Together to Fight Antimicrobial Resistance in Asia and the Pacific’. This project, developed by the tripartite, including FAO, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), is funded by the European Commission for a total of four years. It aims to support a total of 9 Asian countries in their efforts to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR) by strengthening the countries’ National Action Plans on AMR and data sharing.

On the 4 April, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) hosted the project introductory meeting also including the Ministry of Health (MOH), Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE) and the mission team from FAO Regional Asia Pacific office (FAO-RAP) and WOAH.

In Viet Nam, this project will also address food safety which is a major concern given the large number of outbreaks of gastrointestinal disease reported, often attributed to foodborne organisms such as non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS), in some cases are also antimicrobial resistant. Working across the animal, environment and public health sectors, the project will establish linkages between hospital, animal health and environmental laboratories to identify key sources of NTS infections to humans and designing interventions to reduce NTS contamination and AMR.