PM signs declaration calling for concrete action to tackle antimicrobial resistance

Prime Minister Mia Mottley is among the world leaders who have signed on to the political declaration to raise national and global attention to tackle Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), a leading cause of death worldwide.

Leaders are seeking to identify gaps and invest in sustainable solutions to strengthen and accelerate multi-sectoral progress at all levels, through a One Health approach.

Mottley spoke to the significance of the declaration during a Sustainable Access to Effective Antibiotics: The Path From UNGA to IMPACT high-level meeting on the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations General Assembly in New York.

She told the forum that the declaration, set to be debated on Thursday, has set a target of a reduction in deaths by at least 10 per cent by 2030, and reduction in the use of antibiotics in the livestock sector and plants.

The prime minister lamented that there were too many people dying as a result of antimicrobial resistance, and the prediction that this will be the “number one killer of people by 2050”, offered little comfort.

Mottley, who is Co-Chair of the One Health Quadripartite Global Leaders Group, said she had a moral duty to speak up about the dangers of overreliance on antibiotics.

“When [WHO Director-General] Dr Tedros [Adhanom Ghebreyesus] asked me to serve, I felt that I had a moral duty to serve. And one of the first things we discussed when I came on board was, how do we mobilise people who really are going to be on the front line of the risk?

“What do I mean by that? That yes, there are already too many people dying. But if this is going to be the number one killer of people by 2050, then we have a moral obligation to start now. And if we had 20 companies doing research on antibiotics in the year 2000 and we have four now, then we have a moral duty to be able to raise this issue to the highest possible level,” Mottley said.

Pointing out that AMR was the “slow motion silent pandemic”, the Barbadian leader said she is optimistic that the political declaration had the potential to raise public awareness around the world about the seriousness of the situation.

“I think that this political declaration does, first and foremost, [gives] us the benefit of raising its awareness among the political class, but equally, the international financial institutions, who are going to be absolutely critical, not in agreeing to what we agreed to this week, but in really doing the heavy lifting to carry us much further ahead than where we are….

“There are detailed plans with respect to what is required of us politically, but equally, what is required in terms of public education, and what is required in terms of research and all of those other things …,” Mottley highlighted.

The prime minister said countries were facing several global challenges that threatened their existence, and she suggested that governments need to re-examine their strategies to prevent future pandemics.

“So, I really feel that the world needs to pause and get a few things right, and AMR is one of those things that must be at the centre of it,” she advised.

Mottley also emphasised the importance of educating the public about the dangers of antibiotics, adding: “If there’s one thing that I would like to see even more – because that is going to carry us beyond the 10 per cent and it’s going to carry us beyond the agricultural thing – is for us to start teaching children in primary schools and secondary schools about the dangers of [antibiotics].”

(BGIS)