2.1 Global and national action plans on AMR

In 2015, the World Health Assembly adopted The Global Action Plan on AMR, which was subsequently endorsed by the Governing Bodies of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH). Together, these bodies and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) formed the Quadripartite.

In 2016, the AMR political declaration adopted by the UN General Assembly agreed on five strategic objectives as the blueprint for addressing AMR globally (UN, 2016). These five strategic objectives are to:

  • improve awareness and understanding of AMR through effective communication, education and training
  • strengthen the knowledge and evidence base through surveillance and research
  • reduce the incidence of infection through effective sanitation, hygiene and infection prevention measures
  • optimise the use of antimicrobial medicines in human and animal health
  • develop the economic case for sustainable investment that takes account of the needs of all countries and to increase investment in new medicines, diagnostic tools, vaccines and other interventions.

Since then, 178 countries have developed national action plans (NAPs). A new political declaration in September 2024 endorsed by UN member countries included key One Health aims, including:

  • a global target to reduce deaths from bacterial AMR by 10% by 2030
  • a global target of 70% of antibiotics used for human health to come from the WHO’s ‘Access’ category
  • reducing antimicrobials use in agri-food systems
  • preventing and addressing the discharge of antimicrobials into the environment.

Burden estimates are a critical component of global and national action plans. They can be used to:

  • prioritise actions and resources by helping to identify the most significant threats so that actions and resources can be allocated more efficiently
  • inform policy and planning by providing an evidence base for policy decisions
  • strengthen surveillance and accountability by supporting the monitoring and evaluation of NAP implementation
  • mobilise political and financial support by making a case for investment in tackling AMR
  • support global coordination, where standardised burden estimates allow cross-country comparisons which can help to align national efforts with global goals.

Activity 3: AMR burden estimates in your AMR NAP

Timing: Allow about 30 minutes

Go to the World Health Organization’s library of AMR NAPs (WHO, n.d. 4) and find the national action plan for your country.

If a NAP for your country is not available, select one for a country of interest. To get the most out of this activity we suggest that you select a NAP for a country that is in a similar region to your own.

By searching the document, can you identify any AMR burden estimates highlighted in your country’s AMR NAP? You might look for some of the following:

  • morbidity estimates such as prevalence, proportion, frequency, incidence rate of AMR
  • mortality estimates such as mortality and deaths, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs)
  • healthcare costs
  • indirect costs such as loss of productivity or the economic impact on families or communities.

Feel free to copy and paste the relevant sentences into the space below.

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Discussion

Most AMR NAPs will include some estimates of morbidity and mortality, but you may also have found some estimates of the direct or indirect economic burden of AMR.

2 Rationale and value of assessing the burden of disease for AMR

2.2 One Health