The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)’s Director-General, QU Dongyu, has urged the international community to step up joint efforts in advocating for the responsible and sustainable use of antimicrobials to save the lives of people and animals. TAIWO HASSAN reports

At the first meeting of the Global Leaders Group (GLG) on antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which came on the heels of a high-level interactive dialogue of the General Assembly on AMR last week, the Director- General of FAO, QU Dongyu, announced FAO’s new action plan on AMR for 2021-2025, emphasising the centrality of capacity building at national level. The action plans set out the vision and goal, as well as five key objectives, which will guide FAO’s work in the next five years. The objectives include increasing stakeholder awareness and engagement; strengthening surveillance and research; enabling good practices; promoting responsible use of antimicrobials; strengthening governance and allocating resources sustainably. In his opening remarks at the event, the director-general also highlighted three key areas of engagement for the GLG that could act as catalysts in the fight against AMR. First, GLG can strengthen coherent multi-stakeholder engagement on AMR, including through the Partnership Platform for Actions against AMR being currently developed by the FAO/OIE/WHO Tripartite Collaboration on AMR. Secondly, QU emphasised the role of the GLG in mobilising resources to apply the One Health approach to AMR interventions. The approach recognises the strong links between humans, animals and the environment and the need to tackle global health threats holistically. To this end, he stressed the need for investing in multi-sectoral coordination at all levels, building on such mechanisms as the AMR Multi-Partner Trust Fund. He pointed to the crucial role of GLG in increasing global ambition to implement the commitments on AMR. “I am certain that GLG, speaking with One Voice for One Health, will have a substantial impact on the global AMR narrative,” he added. The director-general reiterated FAO’s commitment in providing integrated and coherent assistance to members, including on AMR.

Tackling AMR threats

FAO believes that AMR threats can only be successfully tackled if everyone works together. At country level, this means a range of ministries – from health, food, agriculture to environment – working together alongside the private sector and other non-state actors. At global level, with far and wide reaching impacts, a leading example of collective efforts to fight AMR is the work of the FAO/OIE/WHO Tripartite Collaboration on AMR with UNEP. This includes establishing of initiatives such as the One Health Global Leaders Group on AMR and the Partnership Platform for Action Against AMR that pave the way for shared vision and collective global actions to tackle AMR.

FAO’s work on AMR

Antimicrobial resistance in animal pathogens is already affecting domesticated animals and, as a result, impacts livestock production, which undermines food safety and security. In addition, antimicrobialresistant pathogens can develop and spread along food chain and move between animals, humans and the environment. It means they may also be in the food we eat and water we drink. Being a multidisciplinary organisation, FAO plays a key role in providing integrated and coherent assistance to countries in regulating and monitoring the use of antimicrobials and in preventing and minimising the development of resistance across agri-food systems. In addition, FAO’s experience in capacity development allows it to respond to countries’ requests for support on the use of antimicrobials and the prevention and control of AMR, among other issues. To support its members, FAO developed a series of tools to back food and agriculture sectors in managing AMR. One such tool is the FAO Assessment Tool for Laboratories and AMR Surveillance Systems (FAO-ATLASS) – a tool for assessing and defining targets to improve national AMR surveillance systems in the food and agriculture sectors.

AMR deadlier than COVID-19

FAO further cautioned that AMR might be the next pandemic with serious implications on global health, agrifood systems and economies. AMR is the ability of microbes to persist or grow in the presence of drugs designed to inhibit them. FAO pointed out that at least 700,000 people die each year due to drug resistant diseases. The international food agency, therefore, urged value chain actors from farmers, cooks, producers and consumers to politicians, students, veterinarians and food packagers, among others, to accelerate efforts towards preventing the drug-resistant microbes. “Everyone has a role to play in this mission,” FAO said, adding that more common diseases, including respiratory tract infections, sexually transmitted infections and urinary tract infections are becoming harder to treat. The UN agency, in the report, also revealed that drug resistance is increasingly threatening the agri-food systems and global food security. “COVID-19 has shown us that human, animal and environmental health are more interdependent than ever before. “Pathogens affecting one area can exacerbate challenges in others and have an enormous impact on how we prevent and control health threats to safeguard the world. “AMR is one of these global threats and it is potentially even more dangerous than COVID-19. It is profoundly changing life as we know it,” the report partly read. On her part, the Deputy Director- General, Maria Semedo, in the report, said that just like COVID-19, AMR was no longer a future threat. “It is happening here and now and is affecting us all,” she added. Globally, people, animals and plants are already dying of infections that cannot be treated, even with the strongest antimicrobial treatments, Semedo added. “If AMR is left unchecked, the next pandemic we face could be bacterial and much deadlier if the drugs needed to treat it do not work,” she added.

Last line

With the threat pose microbes pose to global food safety, it is urgent and key that FAO and agric stakeholders find a lasting solution at a period COVID-19 has drastically reduced food production globally.

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