ReAct’s statement at the UN High level meeting on AMR in New York

2024-09-26

ReAct attended the United Nations High-Level meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in New York where Prof. Otto Cars delivered the below intervention on behalf of ReAct- Action on Antibiotic Resistance on September 26, 2024

I’m speaking on behalf of the international network ReAct – Action on antibiotic resistance.

We applaud the massive efforts behind the final version of the political declaration which contains major improvements in comparison to the 2016 declaration, not the least the introduction of a target to reduce deaths from antibiotic resistance.

That said, however, the disconnect between how the urgency to act on this crisis is described in the declaration text and the actual commitments made by governments  – in particular on international financing; governance and accountability – is disappointing.

It is clear that engagement on AMR has improved vastly since 2016. But if we take a step back and look at the bigger picture, I think we can all agree that our actions so far have not been enough to change the course of the problem.

There are four elements to consider here:

• First, antibiotic overuse still rampant in many places both in the human and animal sectors
• Second, the trend on antibiotic resistance is continuing upwards
• Third, mortality from bacterial infections is increasing and lack of access to effective antibiotics is causing millions of deaths
• Forth, the scientific difficulties to produce a viable pipeline of new antibiotics has not been solved.

We simply must reverse these discomforting trends, but I fear that we are fenced into a governance system which has not been well-equipped to manage this multifaceted crisis, and within which we are just able to do small incremental changes but not the real systems transformations that are needed.

But we must start unlocking the barriers for the unprecedented collaborations that are needed. And for the sake of time, I will just provide 3 core suggestions:.

1. Defining a common global vision would be very important to facilitate synergy and collaborations between multiple stakeholders. ReAct has for many years advocated for ensuring sustainable access to effective antibiotics for everyone as the end goal of all our efforts.
2. We need to start using more easily understood language that engages people and politicians  better.
3. Governments should include civil society as partners in the implementation of the national action plans. Since 2016 until to today, numerous civil society groups, communities, social movements and academics that have become engaged. It is high time that governments deliver on the recommendation from the IACG in 2019, which calls for “provision of political, financial and technical support for civil society organizations “.

Going forward it is clear that relying solely on top-down approaches will not create lasting change. Sustainability instead comes from including the whole of society in developing, implementing and monitoring novel solutions.