The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) is developing a 10-year global initiative aiming to reduce antimicrobials in agri-food systems.
FAO director-general QU Dongyu told the sixth meeting of the Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance today (Tuesday, February 7) that the organisation is “fully committed” to limiting the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Along with the 10-year strategy, the FAO has developed an international AMR-monitoring IT platform to address the existing information gap in agri-food systems.
The organisation is also hosting the AMR Multi-Stakeholder Partnership Platform, a mechanism to promote collaboration among a wide range of stakeholders.
Antimicrobials, including antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals and antiparasitics, are medicines used to prevent and treat infections in humans, animals and plants.
AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines, making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death.
Misuse and overuse of antimicrobials are the main drivers in the development of drug-resistant pathogens.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared that AMR as one of the top 10 global public health threats.
AMR disproportionately affects low- and middle-income countries and contributes to almost five million deaths per year, according to the Global Research on Antimicrobial Resistance report.
The World Bank estimates that an additional 24 million people would be forced into extreme poverty by 2030 if no action is taken on the issue today.
FAO
QU Dongyu told FAO members in Barbados today that agri-food systems play a key role in limiting the spread of AMR.
“FAO is fully committed to working with its partners to create more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable agri-food systems for better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life for all.
“Such agri-food systems transformation can now be better supported thanks to the inclusion of the AMR in the Pandemic Fund,” he added.
The director-general underlined the importance of a One Health approach to reducing the use of antimicrobials in the agri-food sector.
One Health is an integrated, unifying approach that aims to sustainably balance and optimise the health of people, animals and ecosystems by recognising that they are closely linked and inter-dependent.