Strategic Framework For Collaboration On Antimicrobial Resistance Together For One Health

Building on the momentum of increased collaboration, WHO, FAO, OIE and UNEP have developed a Strategic Framework for collaboration on antimicrobial resistance (AMR). This Framework reflects the joint work of the four organizations to advance a One Health response to AMR at global, regional and country levels. It broadly supports the implementation of the five pillars of the Global Action Plan on AMR, as well as strengthening global AMR governance.

Pandemic prevention and preparedness are at the top of everyone’s mind as the world continues to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time, however, the threats posed by the silent pandemic of antimicrobial resistance to human, animal, and plant health, food production, and the environment have not ceased and are steadily growing. More than ever before, we know that addressing the interlinked and multi-faceted challenges posed by antimicrobial resistance requires that we work together – across sectors, government, academic disciplines, civil society, the private sector, and the multilateral system – to advance a One Health approach. This strategic framework on antimicrobial resistance represents an important milestone in the decades-long history of collaboration between the Tripartite organizations - a collaboration that now is even stronger as a result of our close engagement with the United Nations Environment Programme. The framework sets out for the first time what our organizations – as leaders in the multilateral system on the human, animal, plant, and environmental health – will do jointly to support countries’ efforts to scale up national responses to antimicrobial resistance. Countries and partners are strongly encouraged to replicate and amplify the One Health approach used in the framework, based on their own contexts and needs.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) – the ability of microbes to resist antimicrobials – remains an alarming global health threat. This report identifies 11 One Health “best buys” that, if implemented systematically, would improve population health, reduce health expenditure and generate positive returns for the economy.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a large and growing problem with the potential for enormous health and economic consequences, globally. As such, AMR has become a central issue at the top of the public health agenda of OECD countries and beyond. In this

Globalization of the food supply has created conditions favorable for the emergence, reemergence, and spread of food-borne pathogens-compounding the challenge of anticipating, detecting, and effectively responding to food-borne threats to health. In the United States, food-borne agents affect 1 out of 6 individuals and cause approximately 48 million illnesses, 128,000 hospitalizations, and 3,000 deaths each year. This figure likely represents just the tip of the iceberg, because it fails to account for the broad array of food-borne illnesses or for their wide-ranging repercussions for consumers, government, and the food industry-both domestically and internationally. A One Health approach to food safety may hold the promise of harnessing and integrating the expertise and resources from across the spectrum of multiple health domains including the human and veterinary medical and plant pathology communities with those of the wildlife and aquatic health and ecology communities. The IOM's Forum on Microbial Threats hosted a public workshop on December 13 and 14, 2011 that examined issues critical to the protection of the nation's food supply. The workshop explored existing knowledge and unanswered questions on the nature and extent of food-borne threats to health. Participants discussed the globalization of the U.S. food supply and the burden of illness associated with foodborne threats to health; considered the spectrum of food-borne threats as well as illustrative case studies; reviewed existing research, policies, and practices to prevent and mitigate foodborne threats; and, identified opportunities to reduce future threats to the nation's food supply through the use of a "One Health" approach to food safety. Improving Food Safety Through a One Health Approach: Workshop Summary covers the events of the workshop and explains the recommendations for future related workshops.

Tackling the realities of the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) situation today is no longer uncommon. Many battles have been fought in the past since the discovery of antibiotics between man and microbes. In the tussle of new antibiotic modifications, the transmission of resistant genes, both vertically and horizontally unveils yet another resistant attribute for the microbe, for it only to be faced with a more powerful, wide spectrum antibiotic; the cycle continues-and the winner is yet to be known. This book aims to provide some insight into various molecular mechanisms, agricultural mitigation methods, and the One Health applications to maybe, just maybe, tip the scales towards us.

The Guide to implementing the One Health Joint Plan of Action (OH JPA) at national level provides practical guidance on how countries can adopt and adapt the OH JPA to strengthen and support national One Health action. Building on the OH Joint Plan of Action theory of change, this Guide describes three pathways and five key steps to implement the OH JPA at national level: • Pathway 1 – Governance, policy, legislation, financing and advocacy • Pathway 2 – Organizational and institutional development, implementation and sectoral integration • Pathway 3 – Data, evidence, information systems and knowledge exchange. The Guide is a joint publication by the four Quadripartite organizations, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).

The International FAO Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring (InFARM) system is an FAO flagship initiative, supporting countries in collecting, collating, analysing, visualizing, and effectively utilizing their AMR monitoring and surveillance data primarily from livestock, fisheries, and aquaculture, along with their associated food products. [Author] InFARM empowers countries to generate reliable evidence to measure the extent of AMR in animals and food, at local, regional, and global scales, filling critical gaps in AMR data within agrifood systems. [Author] This document introduces the InFARM system, provides the FAO's roadmap for implementation over the coming years, and serves as a guide for country officials, offering a step-by-step approach to support the implementation of InFARM. [Author] It provides specific steps and recommendations to guide national focal points in mobilizing country participation through the collection and sharing of available AMR data, along with information on the status of implementation of monitoring and surveillance activities. [Author] Through the InFARM system, FAO invites its Members to establish and strengthen operational national AMR surveillance systems. [Author]