2017-03-18
This week Professor Otto Cars, founder of ReAct – Action on Antibiotic Resistance, was formally nominated to the United Nations (UN) ad-hoc Interagency Coordination Group on Antimicrobial Resistance (ICG-AMR) by the United Nations Secretary General.
Professor Cars will serve as an expert to the ICG-AMR. The group is currently being established after UN countries mandated its creation during the first ever UN High Level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in September 2016.
“It is incredibly exciting and a real honor to get this opportunity to help shape the world’s future response to antimicrobial resistance.
Antimicrobial resistance is a global health emergency and we need to devise sustainable and truly global solutions to tackle this threat”, says Professor Cars.
Provide guidance and improve coordination
The ICG-AMR is expected to provide practical guidance to ensure sustained effective action to address antimicrobial resistance globally and oversee the implementation of the commitments and tasks mandated in the UN Declaration. It is also expected to develop further recommendations on options to improve coordination in line with the Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance from 2015.
Will work for equitable and sustainable solutions
Professor Cars has dedicated most of his professional life to raising public and political awareness about the threat of antibiotic resistance. This includes the formation of Strama, a Swedish nationwide multidisciplinary network against antibiotic resistance in 1995, and the creation of the international ReAct network in 2005. The starting point has always been the belief that access to effective prevention and treatment of bacterial infections is part of everyone’s right to health. Professor Cars has also served as a Member of the WHO’s Strategic and Technical Advisory Group on antimicrobial resistance since 2013. Professor Cars says:
“Antimicrobial resistance cannot be eliminated – it can only be managed. For this reason we need to find sustainable ways to slow down the pace of the development and spread of resistant bacteria. Solutions to contain antimicrobial resistance must contribute to improving universal health coverage, global poverty reduction and support global development for all.
This will require concerted and well-coordinated efforts across sectors such as human and animal health, agriculture, medical research and development, environment and education internationally and nationally. The ICG-AMR will be central in promoting such efforts and I look forward to the work we will be doing.”
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Therese Holm, Media & Communications Manager
E-mail: therese.holm@medsci.uu.se
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