A consultation meeting, held on 12 March, has heard a report on the progress of the FAO-implemented Action to support implementation of Codex AMR texts (ACT) project over the last year. In the meeting, the ACT project team detailed to representatives from the project donor, the Republic of Korea, the activities and achievements that took place in 2024. The project aims at improving monitoring and surveillance, governance and awareness of foodborne AMR and is being implemented in Bolivia (Plurinational State [...]

A recent surveillance study of foodborne antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in Cambodia has revealed an urgent need for stricter regulations on antimicrobial use in the country’s livestock sector. Carried out under the FAO-implemented and Republic of Korea-funded Action to support implementation of Codex AMR texts (ACT) project, the study also underscores the importance of routine AMR monitoring, and the adoption of targeted interventions, such as improved biosecurity measures and vaccination programmes, to reduce the need of antibiotics and mitigate the spread [...]

World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW) is taking place this week, 18–24 November, in order to raise awareness globally not only about the threats posed by the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), but of the ways in which we can collectively tackle the problem.  AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites no longer respond to antimicrobial agents, such as antibiotics. As a result, antimicrobial drugs become ineffective and infections become difficult or impossible to treat, increasing the risk of disease spread, [...]

The Joint ACT/FF3 meeting took place in Siem Reap, Cambodia, from November 4–8. The “Action to Support Implementation of Codex AMR Texts (ACT)” project, funded by the Republic of Korea, and the FAO Fleming Fund 3 (FF3) global initiative, funded by the United Kingdom’s Fleming Fund, came together for their first joint meeting to share experiences and challenges, foster mutual learning, and plan collaboratively for the year ahead. Cambodia was highlighted as a model country due to its active involvement in [...]

Three videos have been produced that describe the FAO-implemented and Republic of Korea-funded Action to support implementation of Codex AMR texts (ACT) project and demonstrate some of the successes of the project in the Plurinational State of Bolivia. The first video provides an overview of the Project, describing the four key areas in which improvement will help drive the fight against foodborne antimicrobial resistance. Those four project components promote improved awareness, monitoring and surveillance, governance, and good practices. In the video, [...]

The FAO-implemented and Republic of Korea-funded Action to support the implementation of Codex AMR texts (ACT) Project was featured at the 4th Global Conference on Foodborne Antimicrobial Resistance (GCFA), held in Seoul, Republic of Korea, on September 24–25, 2024. At the conference opening, Yu Kyung Oh, Minister of Food and Drug Safety for the Republic of Korea, underscored the importance of the One Health approach, which links human, animal, and environmental health in tackling antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Minister Oh reiterated Korea's [...]

Codex texts have been recognized by the second High-Level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) that took place at the United Nations headquarters in New York on 26 September, as a basis for managing the spread of AMR within the food and agriculture sectors. In the political declaration that was adopted following the meeting, members of the United Nations General Assembly recognize the growing and urgent threat posed by AMR globally, and “the need to scale up multisectoral, cross-sectoral and inter-disciplinary [...]

The 4th Global Conference on Foodborne Antimicrobial Resistance (GCFA) will take place September 24–25 2024, in Seoul, the Republic of Korea. Hosted by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) since 2021, the conference aims to raise awareness about foodborne antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and to call for concrete action. The FAO-implemented and Republic of Korea-funded Action to support implementation of Codex AMR Texts (ACT) project, will be presented at this year's conference, which is a demonstration of Korea's efforts to [...]

In a bid to help countries address the global threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), FAO developed an Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance 2021–2025. The Plan outlines five key areas of focus – of which one aims at supporting countries to strengthen surveillance and research for evidence-based decisions on AMR in the food and agriculture sectors. This work is now aided by the newly launched International FAO Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring (InFARM) system, which helps countries improve capacities to collect, collate, analyse, [...]

A first-of-its-kind pilot surveillance study in Mongolia is coming to an end. In October 2023, as part of the FAO-implemented and Republic of Korea-funded Action to support implementation of Codex AMR Texts (ACT) project, a team of researchers from the State Central Veterinary Laboratory (SCVL) in Mongolia collected samples from cattle to look for the presence of antimicrobial resistant (AMR) pathogens. The SCVL undertook this study in response to the recommendations of a Mongolia-hosted mission for the “FAO Assessment Tool [...]