A regional network of laboratories will help fight antimicrobial resistance

Two back-to-back events addressing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the food and agriculture sectors of Europe and Central Asia concluded today in Moscow. Countries at the consultation meeting on 5-6 December agreed to set up an antimicrobial resistance laboratory network, with the active participation of the main animal health and food safety laboratories involved in the detection of AMR in the six countries of the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Russian Federation and the Republic of Tajikistan.

The consultation meeting was organized jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Russian Federal Budget Institution of Science "Central Research Institute of Epidemiology" of the Federal Service on Customers' Rights Protection and Human Well-being Surveillance (FBIS CRIE of Rospotrebnadzor).

Antimicrobial drugs play a critical role in the treatment of infectious diseases of food-producing animals (aquatic and terrestrial) and plants, which helps to ensure food security. Antimicrobial resistance – the ability of microorganisms to persist or grow in the presence of drugs designed to inhibit or kill them – poses risks to food systems, livelihoods, public health, and economies.

In line with the objectives of the FAO Action Plan on AMR 2021–2025, the ultimate aim of the consultation meeting was to set up a regional network to coordinate action and improve countries’ knowledge and capabilities to conduct surveillance and laboratory diagnosis of antimicrobial resistance.

At the meeting, activities conducted by FAO and the countries concerned were presented. During the discussions, the countries’ main gaps and priorities were identified, both from the food safety and the animal health perspectives, based on which short-, medium- and long-term activities within the future network were proposed. Subsequently, the framework of the regional laboratory network for AMR surveillance was drafted, outlining its roles, responsibilities, and mode of operation. The network will provide scientific and technical advice to national laboratories, both for monitoring, risk assessment and therapeutic purposes in food-producing animals and food commodities. An additional objective of the network is to promote international laboratory standards in the region and the harmonization of laboratory methods for identification and characterization of bacterial species and antimicrobial susceptibility testing.

The network meeting was followed on 7-8 December by a scientific conference on food safety and collaborated efforts to reduce antimicrobial resistance, organized by Rospotrebnadzor, with FAO’s technical contribution. During the conference, presentations were given by representatives of FAO, Rospotrebnadzor, and various organizations and countries of the region, on food safety and risk analysis, international efforts to reduce antimicrobial resistance in the food and agriculture, surveillance and monitoring of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and antibiotic residues in food, and AMR detection by molecular methods. In addition, the recent designation of the "Central Research Institute of Epidemiology" as a FAO Reference Centre for AMR for the next four years was officially announced to the audience.

On the global level, FAO has been working together with the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) in what is known as the Quadripartite, to address health risks at the human, animal, plant, and environment interface under the  One Health approach. Quadripartite representatives attended both events.

The events in Moscow are part of a regional FAO project funded by the Russian Federation with the purpose of reducing the advance of antimicrobial resistance in food and agriculture in the Republic of Armenia, the Republic of Belarus, the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, and the Republic of Tajikistan. Under the project, FAO is also assisting laboratories to assess and define priorities activities to improve national AMR surveillance systems in the food and agriculture sectors through the FAO Assessment Tool for Laboratories and AMR Surveillance Systems (FAO-ATLASS), conducting laboratory trainings on methods for the detection of antimicrobial resistance , and supporting for  the collection and analysis of samples from priority livestock production systems to obtain a baseline of antimicrobial resistance occurrence in the region.

8 December 2022, Moscow, Russian Federation