Hanoi, Viet Nam. Everyone in Viet Nam must join hands against antimicrobial resistance, say officials

With antimicrobial resistance threatening health and the economy, individuals and all sectors in Viet Nam need to join hands against antimicrobial resistance (AMR), participants at a High-Level Roundtable on AMR in Ha Noi heard today.

AMR is one of the top global public health and development threats. It occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites no longer respond to antimicrobial medicines such as antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals, and antiparasitics, which are used to prevent and treat diseases in humans, animals and plants. As a result, infections become difficult or impossible to treat, increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness, disability, and death. AMR can spread quickly through health-care facilities, animals, food, soil and water, experts told more than 80 representatives of Government agencies, the United Nations, embassies, research institutions, academia, development partners and the media at the Roundtable.

The event was co-chaired by the Vice Minister of Health His Excellency Dr Nguyen Tri Thuc, Vice Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development His Excellency Dr Phung Duc Tien, the British Ambassador His Excellency Iain Frew, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Representative Dr Rémi Nono Womdim and World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in Viet Nam Dr Angela Pratt. 

Tackling AMR involves collaboration across health, animal and environmental sectors, including policymakers, health-care providers, the private sector, farmers, and individuals. Representatives of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development updated the Roundtable on the use of antimicrobials in the health and agriculture sectors, under the Government’s National AMR Strategy 2023-2030 with a vision to 2045. H.E. Tien emphasized the needs for supporting Vietnam to implement National Action Plan on AMR in Agriculture and call for the farmers to use the “right drug” for the “right disease” with the “right dose” under the necessary circumstances. “We began implementing AMR action plan in agriculture from 2017. Since then, several legislations have been issued or revised to reduce the use of antimicrobial agents in the agriculture sector. It is important for the whole government from central to provincial levels and the public to support the implementation of these regulations and the national action plan. Every Vietnamese, involving in farming, food processing or not, can also help by administer the right drug for the right disease at the right dose under the necessary circumstances in compliance with the regulations.”

H. E. Thuc urged everyone in Viet Nam to join hands to curb AMR. “Despite the significant milestones we have achieved since the development of the National Action Plan in 2013, we continue to face numerous challenges in preventing and controlling the rising trend of AMR in the health sector. We remain deeply committed to collaborating with the animal, plant, and environmental sectors to implement the National Strategy for 2023-2030 effectively. “The National Action Plan to Prevent and Combat Drug Resistance in Health Care for the period of 2024-2025 serves as a focused, short-term blueprint designed to accelerate progress in the initial years of the strategy. It aims to lay a solid foundation for sustainable success in the years to follow. “We call upon the commitment of all stakeholders and stewards of AMR, including health workers, the pharmaceutical industry, academic and research institutions, patients, consumers, policymakers, government leaders, and international organizations. We urge them to take bold actions and join us in achieving our objectives to prevent and control the rising trend of AMR in Viet Nam.”

Dr Pratt commended the Government’s National AMR Strategy, a significant milestone in Viet Nam’s efforts to curb AMR. “Viet Nam’s National Strategy recognizes AMR as a major threat to health, the economy, and achieving domestic and international targets such as the Sustainable Development Goals. “Now, stronger coordinated action is needed, to support implementation of the National Strategy, from individuals and all sectors of society and the economy, including human, animal, plant and environmental health. Some antibiotics that have saved millions of lives since their discovery have already lost their power to treat illness globally, including in Viet Nam. The time to act is now.”

Actions to curb AMR include improving access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) for humans and animals; strengthening infection and disease prevention and control in homes, health-care facilities, farms and food industry premises; improving access to vaccines, diagnostics and medicines; minimize pollution and ensure proper waste and sanitation management; and improving public awareness and knowledge on the use and misuse of antibiotics. The urgent global need to scale up action on AMR is the reason the United Nations General Assembly is holding a High-Level Meeting on AMR and the fourth Global High-Level Ministerial Conference on AMR in September in New York.

Dr Nono Womdim said, “The upcoming High-Level Meeting on AMR at the United Nations General Assembly on 26 September 2024 offers an unparalleled opportunity to consolidate hard-won gains and agree on sustainable solutions for the future. Preventing and addressing AMR will bring substantial benefits across food production, animal health, the environment and health-care sectors. FAO, in close collaboration with Quadripartite partners (WHO, World Organization for Animal Health and United Nations Environment Programme) supports the development of a political declaration that is fit for the future that accelerates efforts on addressing AMR across all sectors, and at all levels. Our goal is to preserve antimicrobial efficacy and ensure sustainable and equitable access to antimicrobials for responsible and prudent use in human, animal and plant health, contributing to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”

H.E Iain Frew commended the importance that Viet Nam attributes to tackling AMR, and committed to providing continued United Kingdom (UK) support in Viet Nam’s journey to address AMR., “Viet Nam has displayed genuine regional leadership on AMR, becoming the first nation in South East Asia to develop a National Action Plan on AMR in 2013. This plan, alongside support from international partners like the UK, has provided a springboard for enacting critical responses to tackling AMR in a One Health, multi-sectoral approach. Phase two of the UK Fleming Fund has now launched in Viet Nam, and I look forward to our increased technical assistance on AMR bringing even greater impact, particularly in the environment and industrial sectors.”

Ambassador Frew also commented, “The upcoming session on AMR at the United National General Assembly provides another opportunity for Viet Nam and other Member States to demonstrate global stewardship on AMR, through our shared efforts to deliver an ambitious political declaration”.

Panelists included embassies of Australia, Denmark, France and Japan as well as representatives of the Viet Nam Poultry Association (VIPA), the National Hospital of Tropical Diseases (NHTD), Oxford University Clinical Research Unit (OUCRU), French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), the US Agency for International Development (USAID), FHI360 (formerly Family Health International).

At the Roundtable, WHO, FAO, the British Embassy and other partners committed to supporting Viet Nam’s continued work on AMR to protect health and development.