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Last 22 of November, in collaboration with the AMR team in the FAO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean, LEGN coordinated a regional workshop to present the “One Health Legislative Assessment Tool forAntimicrobial Resistance (AMR)”, which saw the participation of over 116experts from the Latin America and Caribbean region. In this workshop, national and regional representatives from public health, animal health, plant health, pesticide management, food safety and the environmental sector shared their visions of the role that legislation should play in controlling AMR.  

The "One Health Legislative Assessment Tool for Antimicrobial Resistance" was developed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH),with inputs from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the financial support of the Quadripartite Multi-Partner Trust Fund. The tool is in piloting phase and will be published in the second half of 2023.  

Speakers highlighted the importance of joint and coordinated action across relevant sectors in order to design regulatory responses to prevent and curb AMR. They differentiated between sector-specific legislation that can be implemented by one ministry (human health, animal health, or environmental law) and cross-sectoral legislation that needs more than one Ministry to be implemented. They explained that most international AMR recommendations can be introduced into sector-specific legislation. As an exception, the establishment of a multisector governance mechanismis better achieved through broader AMR legislation, to be implemented by multiple ministries. Such legislation should not include sector-specific legal elements as that would create legal fragmentation.  

The workshop also discussed the possibilities and options to introduce a One Health approach into AMR legislation. The establishment of a multi-sector AMR governance mechanism with participation of human health, animal health, aquaculture and environment authoritiesis indeed a first step. In addition, introducing a One Health approach to AMR management would also require that each sector become conscious of the intersections across areas, and that synergies be addressed in their sector-specific laws. Examples of such interventions are the coordination mechanisms for zoonosis management or the provisions on environmental pollution in human health or veterinary laws.   

For more information on this workshop and the legislative response to AMR, please write to: [email protected]