| Event Name: | AMR in action – The outcome from the conference “Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in an Era of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) and Pandemics”: AMR people centred approach & the Future of Antibiotics |  |
| Date: | Friday, 27 September 2024 | |
| Time: | 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM (includes light networking lunch) | |
| Venue: | Sofitel New York 2nd Floor, Room Trocadero 45 W 44th St, New York, NY 10036, United States |
Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in an Era of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) and Pandemics
The Asia-Europe Foundation Public Health Network (ASEF PHN) has been leading efforts to emphasise the connection between addressing AMR while strengthening national health systems toward UHC. Building on the consensus reached during our meeting in 2018[1], a follow-up conference, “Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in an Era of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) and Pandemics” took place in Feb 2023[2]. The participants agreed that tackling AMR under the health system is integral to attaining UHC and enhancing Pandemic Preparedness and Response (PPR) capacities, ultimately contributing to Global Health Security (GHS). The conference yielded tangible actions based on the key messages outlined in the outcome document[3].
- WHO’s proposal on a new initiative titled “Addressing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) by strengthening primary health care (PHC): Piloting the AMR People Centred Approach in priority countries” to test the WHO people-centred approach to addressing AMR in human health and the core package of interventions at the PHC level of implementation.
- The Future of Antibiotics – New partnerships for antibiotic discovery led by the University of Warwick
AMR People Centred Approach (PCA)[4]
For a sustainable and comprehensive response to AMR, it is essential to link/mainstream AMR interventions at the country level more firmly with health systems strengthening efforts including to achieve UHC through primary health care (PHC) and building capacity for pandemic preparedness and response efforts. Mainstreaming AMR requires a shift from addressing AMR as purely a biological phenomenon, and instead placing people and their health needs and health system challenges along the people AMR journey at the centre of the response. To provide guidance to countries for a more comprehensive and programmatic response to AMR in the human health sector linked with health systems strengthening efforts, WHO has developed a People Centred Approach (PCA) to address AMR in the human health sector. PCA recognizes and aims to address the challenges and health system barriers people face when accessing health services to prevent, diagnose and treat (drug-resistant) infections. It puts people and their needs at the centre of the AMR response and guides policymakers in taking programmatic and comprehensive actions to mitigate AMR in line with a core package of 13 AMR interventions.
This unprecedented approach, led by WHO and supported by ASEF, has been piloted in 4 countries to date –Indonesia, Thailand, Kazakhstan and Sweden. The practical lessons identified from the implementation of AMR PCA in these selected countries will provide possibilities for other member states to adopt similar strategies. The results of these pilot case studies in these 4 countries will help the WHO in developing guidance on mainstreaming AMR interventions into PHC strengthening efforts. This will form the basis for the WHO’s strategic and operational priorities for 2025-2035. An interim update, including key messages from the initial 2 country missions in Indonesia and Thailand, was discussed at the side event during the 77th World Health Assembly, and is available here.
New Partnerships for Antibiotic Discovery and Development
Current funding models and policy frameworks do not encourage scientists to specialise in antimicrobials, resulting in a significant loss of capacity and capability in terms of human resources This initiative that is aimed at addressing this problem, arose out of discussions associated with the Feb 2023 conference. It is funded by the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation (GBSF) and the Howard Dalton Centre (HDC) at the University of Warwick. The issues with research and development (R&D) of antimicrobials are well known – a reliance on the market has failed to mobilise sufficient investment; although various schemes have been established to fill in the financial gap, they are not providing sufficient incentives to attract young scientists to make a career in antibiotic discovery and development.
There is an urgent need for a new approach that mobilises cutting-edge science, national infrastructure, inter-country partnerships and underpinning policy change to address these challenges. The project, “Future of Antibiotics – New Partnerships for Antibiotic Discovery”, was established as a collaborative effort between British and Japanese philanthropies. This five year project was launched at a high level Joint Japan/UK Science and Policy workshop in March 2024 at the National Centre for global Health and Medicine (NCGM) and at a reception at the British Embassy in Tokyo, where two AMR Policy Fellowships, named after Mr Yasuhisa SHIOZAKI, former Minister of Health, Japan and Dame Sally DAVIES, former chief medical officer of the UK, were announced. The aim is to create career tracks that attract, train and retain excellent researchers with the necessary skills to build a discovery ecosystem, enhanced by new technologies and new partnerships between academic research centres and private companies.
Objectives of the side event
The main purpose of this event is to promote for actions against AMR by sharing the best practices and lessons identified from the 2 initiatives that originated from our conference in Tokyo in 2023. More specifically, the discussion aims to;
- Encourage Member states to address AMR as part of health system strengthening efforts while progressing towards UHC and better PPR in the human health sector.
- Contribute to expanding the “Future of Antibiotics” project, beyond the UK and Japan. Other countries and organisations are encouraged to join this collaborative program to address needs across sectors, regionally, nationally and internationally, building new research and policy partnerships across academia, industry, philanthropy and governments to tackle issues surrounding the next generation of leaders and wider ecosystem for antimicrobial R&D.
[1] https://asef.org/projects/high-level-meeting-universal-health-coverage-as-a-tool-to-combat-infectious-diseases/
[2] 2023 Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in an Era of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) and Pandemics Conference – Asia-Europe Foundation (ASEF)
