World Health Assembly backs plan to reduce antimicrobial resistance

The World Health Assembly, which recently concluded its annual meeting in Geneva, approved a resolution this week to address antimicrobial resistance worldwide, according to WHO.

“This is the single greatest challenge in infectious diseases today,” Keiji Fukuda, MD, WHO’s assistant director-general for health security, said recently in a press release about a WHO report released in April on the global threat of antimicrobial resistance. “All types of microbes — including many viruses and parasites — are becoming resistant to medicines. Of particularly urgent concern is the development of bacteria that are progressively less treatable by available antibiotics. This is happening in all parts of the world, so all countries must do their part to tackle this global threat.”

The resolution recommends that member states focus on these objectives:

Keiji Fukuda

increase awareness of antimicrobial resistance;
strengthen surveillance and research;
reduce the incidence of infection;
improve antimicrobial use; and
promote investment in countering drug resistance.

In passing the resolution, member states have committed to adopting their own plans to overcome antimicrobial resistance, which are to align with the global plan by May 2017, according to WHO. These national plans should cover the use of antimicrobials in humans and animals.

The World Health Assembly also endorsed a resolution to help lower- and middle-income countries gain greater access to vaccines in order to meet objectives of its Global Vaccine Action Plan, which aims to provide vaccinations to everyone who needs them by 2020. The assembly is requesting that member states make their vaccine pricing more transparent, and it also suggests that less affluent countries with immunization needs consider pooling their resources for vaccine procurement.

For more information:

WHO. Worldwide country situation analysis: response to antimicrobial resistance. 2015. http://www.who.int/drugresistance/documents/situationanalysis/en/. Accessed May 27, 2015.