Jeddah Conference Announces More Measures to Combat AMR – But Implementation Plans Are Still Vague
Antimicrobial Resistance 18/11/2024 •
Saudi Health Minister Fahad Abdulrahman Aljalajil addresses the Ministerial Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in Jeddah.

Government leaders from the health, environment and agriculture sectors in 57 countries adopted a 14-point plan to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR) at a meeting in Saudi Arabia that ended over the weekend.

One of the undertakings of the Jeddah Commitment is support for the establishment of an independent panel to collect evidence about AMR. 

The United Nations (UN) High-Level Meeting on AMR had already committed to such a panel in September and gave the Quadripartite (Quad) organisations –  the World Health Organization (WHO), Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), UN Evironment Programme (UNEP) and World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) – the authority to set up the panel.

The ministerial conference resolved to support the Quad in a “timely, open and transparent process” to set up  “an Independent Panel for Evidence on Action Against AMR”.

However further details, including which UN agency should host the panel and its terms of reference, have not yet been resolved.

The UK is believed to favour UNEP hosting the panel while other countries believe that the WHO is better equipped to do so as the global health body houses the Quad.

The declaration also call for the creation of a new “biotech bridge” to boost research, development and innovation to find solutions to AMR.

AMR happens when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites develop resistance to medicines designed to kill them. This makes infections harder and more costly to treat. Drug-resistant pathogens can also spread between people, animals, and the environment. 

It is driven in large part by the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials, particularly in agriculture. AMR already causes an estimated 1.27 million deaths per year.

Saudi Arabia launches regional hubs

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia will launch a regional antibiotic access and logistics hub and an AMR One Health learning hub, the country’s health minister, Fahd bin Abdulrahman Al-Jalajel, told conference delegates.

The access and logistics hub will initially operate as a pilot in the WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMRO). Its purpose is to foster the sustainable procurement of antibiotics and diagnostics and improve end-to-end access to these. 

A conference participant told Health Policy Watch that the hub would stockpile antibiotics and establish distribution networks to ensure that they reach areas in need, particularly conflict zones. EMRO members include Palestine, Lebanon and Sudan. 

The One Health AMR Learning Hub will focus on sharing best practices and developing capabilities on how to implement national AMR action plans on AMR with specific national targets.

‘Misunderstanding’ of animal welfare 

Wendla-Antonia Beyer, policy officer at the farm animal welfare and public health organisation, Four Paws, said that while the Jeddah Commitment “shows there is momentum behind tackling AMR” it also shows that there is “insufficient understanding of how animal welfare impacts antibiotics use in farming”. 

Beyer said that “73% of our antibiotics are used in agriculture, often for growth-promotion or for diseases that could be prevented if farms had good animal welfare. 

“Farms where piglets spend more time with their mothers use less antibiotics. Farms with slower-growing chicken breeds use less antibiotics. The solutions are there, proven and viable — they only need to make it into policy and practice. With the Political Declaration and the Jeddah Commitment behind us, governments and global governance structures now need to make animal welfare an integral part of the One Health response to AMR.”

Katherine Urbáez, who heads the Health Diplomacy Alliance (HDA), said her organisation would “continue to advocate to ensure the continued political and financial commitment and to tackle AMR”.

“This includes the setting up of the panel with the scope and governance that allows the identification of the data and to advance the commitments in the HLM Policital Declaration”.

HDA is based in Geneva and works with multi-stakeholders to advance health with diplomacy.

This week is World AMR Awareness Week, which has its theme as “Educate. Advocate. Act now.”

Image Credits: Health Ministry of Saudi Arabia.

Combat the infodemic in health information and support health policy reporting from the global South. Our growing network of journalists in Africa, Asia, Geneva and New York connect the dots between regional realities and the big global debates, with evidence-based, open access news and analysis. To make a personal or organisational contribution click here on PayPal.