Phnom Penh, Cambodia

The Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) launched on 23 December 2019 the Multi-Sectoral Action Plan (MSAP) 2019-2023 encompassing seven key strategic areas that will guide collaborative interventions​ to address the threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR):

1. Building human capacity for AMR
2. Containing AMR through good practices
3. Evidence generation through surveillance and laboratories
4. Governance and coordination to reduce antimicrobial resistance
5. Increasing public awareness
6. Rational use of antimicrobial medicines
7. Research and innovation for antimicrobial resistance                                                        

This action plan was jointly prepared by the Ministry of Health (MoH), the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), and the Ministry of Environment (MoE). It provides robust approaches, involves and benefits sectors as diverse as human and animal health, food and agriculture, environment, financing, and consumers, all having a role to play if AMR is to be addressed.

The plan was developed in collaboration with the Tripartite on AMR, consisting of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the World Health Organization (WHO). AMR being a multisectoral challenge, at the interface between humans, animals and the environment, this tripartite arrangementwas an important step in the right direction towards coordinated, efficient and effective action to tackle AMR.

Support was received from key resource partners, including the Fleming Fund of the United Kingdom, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the United State (US-CDC).

Speaking on behalf of the Tripartite, Dr Kumanan Rasanathan, acting WHO Representative to Cambodia, emphasized that “We, the Tripartite agencies, are fully committed in supporting Cambodia in its fight against antibiotic resistance. If we do not take action today, there will be no cure for common infectious diseases tomorrow”.

He also congratulated the RGC, particularly the three ministries, on the efforts leading to the completion of the multi-sector plan to prevent and address AMR in Cambodia.

HE Prof Eng Huot, Secretary of State of the MoH, stressed in his remark that “MoH alone is not able to tackle complex AMR issues. This requires collaborative efforts from MAFF and MoE”.

The launching was a huge success with relevant stakeholders showing full involvement, commitment and a readiness to act at this turning point, with Cambodia now having the first ever guiding document for actions to combat AMR in the country.

AMR is a significant global threat to public health, food safety and food security, as well as to livelihoods, and economic and agricultural development as AMR causes a reduction in the effectiveness of medicines, making infections and diseases difficult or impossible to treat. Antimicrobials are important for the treatment of human, animal, and plant diseases, but they must be used responsibly and only when needed. Improper and non-therapeutic use of antibiotics for disease prevention and growth promotion by farmers and stockbreeders is prevailing, often with antibiotics that are critically important for human medicine, threatening their effectiveness. People or animals who encounter resistant pathogens may then suffer infections that ​can’t be treated. ​Every use of antimicrobials, even the most prudent, creates opportunities for AMR.

In Cambodia, AMR is a huge challenge that hampers the efforts to improve the quality of, for example, healthcare services, safe food production, and access to clean and safe water/environment.​ Antimicrobial resistance is threatening the essential component of health with the emerging and spreading of new resistance mechanism resulting in increased mortality and morbidity from infectious disease, prolonged hospital stays, and increased cost of care.

Several positive initiatives were established, including a national policy (2014) and a strategy (2015-2017) on combating AMR by the MoH, followed by the drafting of a national action plan on AMR for food and agriculture by the MAFF. This MSAP is a very positive development towards more concerted efforts to tackle AMR.

Without collaborative interventions, the death toll by AMR is expected to rise to nearly 5 million per year in Asia by 2050. Global health care costs, on the other hand, are estimated to increase by an​additional USD 300 billion to USD 1 trillion per year after 2030, while the GDP of low-income countries may decrease by more than 5 percent, according to a World Bank report[1].

The event was broadcast on TV and social media.

[1] Final Report: DRUG-RESISTANT INFECTIONS