One Health Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance:

Question 1

Who launched it?

Answer 1

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Question 2

Composition?

Answer 2

This 20-member group comprises heads of states, current and former ministers of different countries, leaders from the private sector and civil society.

It is co-chaired by the prime ministers of Barbados and Bangladesh, Mia Mottley and Sheikh Hasina Wazed, respectively.

The heads of FAO, OIE and WHO are ex-officio members of the group.

Question 3

Why was it created?

Answer 3

It seeks to catalyze global attention and action to preserve antimicrobial medicines and avert the disastrous consequences of antimicrobial resistance.

Question 4

Functions of the group?

Answer 4

Monitor the global response to antimicrobial resistance.

Maintain public momentum.

Provide regular reports on the science and evidence related to AMR to the UN member states.

Advocate for the inclusion of AMR ‘lens’ in investments on agriculture, health, development, food and feed production.

Push for multi-stakeholder engagement on the issue.

Question 5

What is Antimicrobial resistance & Antibiotic resistance?

Answer 5

• Antimicrobial resistance (AMR or AR) is the ability of a microbe to resist the effects of medication that once could successfully treat the microbe
• The term antibiotic resistance is a subset of AMR, as it applies only to bacteria becoming resistant to antibiotics.
• Antibiotics are medicines used to prevent and treat bacterial infections. Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria change in response to the use of these medicines
• Antibiotic resistance occurs naturally, but misuse of antibiotics in humans and animals is accelerating the process.
• A growing number of infections – such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, gonorrhoea, and salmonellosis – are becoming harder to treat as the antibiotics used to treat them become less effective.