Third FAO in Geneva One Health Dialogue Series focuses on AMR
The FAO Liaison Office with the United Nations in Geneva organized today the third session of its One Health Dialogue Series with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), focusing on Progress and challenges in the implementation of National control plans for Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).
The discussions started with a short recap of key messages and conclusions of the previous One Health Dialogue on One Health Governance from Dr. Chadia Wannous, One Health Coordinator at OIE.
The first part of the dialogue was dedicated to the efforts of Bangladesh and Ghana to establish National AMR Control Plans with presentations from Dr. Monjur Mohammad Shahjada, Director-General Department of Livestock Services and Chief Veterinary Officer of Bangladesh and Dr Brian Adu-Asare of the AMR Secretariat in the Ministry of Health of Ghana. Mr Mohamed Ramzy Ismail, Technical Officer, Essential Drugs and other Medicines for WHO in Bangladesh, as well as Dr Eric Brum ECTAD Team Leader for FAO in Bangladesh also made comments in this segment.
A very lively and stimulating discussion tool place in the second part of the webinar. Following an inspirational video message from His Excellency Chad Blackman, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Barbados to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva, discussants from USAID and Indonesia had a very interesting exchange facilitated by FAO’s Dr Junxia Song, Senior Animal Health Officer for AMR. Dr Nuryani Zainuddin, Director for Animal Health in the Ministry of Agriculture of Indonesia shared examples from her country to enrich the discussion and Dr Jessica Petrillo, Senior Advisor for AMR at USAID highlighted challenges of AMR Control and made suggestions for the way forward.
Closing remarks were delivered by Dr Keith Sumption, Chief Veterinary Officer and Leader of the Animal Health Programme in FAO. He highlighted that AMR has emerged as a significant global public health problem, and also as a global development issue already causing 5 million human deaths per year worldwide. Dr Sumption then reiterated the need to join efforts across sectors and regions to preserve antimicrobials as lifesaving medicines for future generations.
The next session will take place in the last week of March 2022 and it will cover the topic of “Food Safety and One Health”.
The webcast of the third session of the FAO Geneva One Health Dialogue series « Progress and challenges in the implementation of National control plans for Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)” is available here with the passcode: nzSAu!5J
Background on the FAO Geneva One Health Dialogue Series
Organized by FAO in Geneva with OIE, WHO and UNEP, the One Health Dialogue Series is undertaken in support of FAO’s strategic framework in general and One Health Program Priority Area (PPA - BP3) in particular. It aims to increase awareness on the complexity and magnitude of the issue and ultimately ground policy making at all levels in field realities.
Through 2022, it will present important work carried out in Member States with support from FAO and tripartite partners (OIE, WHO) and UNEP, showcase concrete examples of implementation of the One Health approach at the community, national, regional and global levels and discuss challenges faced during their implementation as well as their sustainability. One Health is one of the six initial priority areas identified by FAO in Geneva.
Related links:
First session of the FAO in Geneva One Health Dialogue Series - Theme: One Health Dialogue – Health through healthy agrifood systems
Second edition of the FAO in Geneva One Health Dialogue series - Theme: One Health governance and good practices
Learn more on FAO’s One Health work