Speech By Dr Bardan Jung Rana, WHO Representative to Bangladesh
- Honourable Chair,
- Respected Chief Guest, Honourable Minister of Health and Family Welfare,
- Distinguished guests in the dais
- Colleagues, ladies, and gentlemen,
The rise of antimicrobial resistance is a global crisis, recognized as one of the greatest threats to health today. Antimicrobial resistance is a challenge in every region of the world.
Over-use and misuse of antibiotics in animals and humans is contributing to the rising threat of antibiotic resistance.
Some types of bacteria that cause serious infections in humans have already developed resistance to most or all the available treatments, and there are very few promising options in the research pipeline.
We are already losing our first-line antibiotics. Second- and third-choice antibiotics are more costly, more toxic, need much longer durations of treatment, and may require administration in intensive care units.
Superbugs haunt hospitals and intensive care units all around the world. Gonorrhoea, which is a sexually transmitted disease, is now resistant to multiple classes of drugs. Even with the best of care, only around 50% of all patients with multi-drug resistant tuberculosis can be cured.
To respond to this crisis on antimicrobial resistance, WHO Member States endorsed the global action plan in the World Health Assembly in 2015.
This action plan highlights the importance of coordination among different sector and actors under one health approach.
The action plan is developed in close collaboration with FAO and OIE and recognizes that a crisis of this magnitude requires an effective One Health approach involving coordination among many different national and international sectors and actors.
Bangladesh has responded to the global call to address AMR and developed a five-year national action plan and road map towards combating antimicrobial resistance.
The second five-year plan has been developed and in final stages of clearance.
The WHO-led Antimicrobial Resistance National Action Plan One Health Situational Analysis 2020 showed that Bangladesh has been making considerable progress.
On this day of celebrating the World Antimicrobial Awareness Week 2021, I would like to acknowledge the efforts of Government of Bangladesh in fighting antimicrobial resistance, under leadership of the Honourable Prime Minister.
Honourable Prime Minister’s role as co-chair of the AMR Global Leaders Group is commendable and helping to shape the global agenda in combating AMR.
I would also like to acknowledge the key role of Directorate General of Drug Administration in regulating medical products and raising awareness of stakeholders in the pharmaceutical sector about the serious risks arising from over-use of antimicrobials.
We need ways to target all behaviours that contribute to the misuse of these fragile medicines. We should not blame any single sector. We are all in this together. We need ways to monitor progress and make quick course corrections if we are moving in the wrong direction.
Among other initiatives, WHO is supporting DGDA in monitoring consumption of antimicrobials. Once trend data is available this would be a powerful policy making tool, to guide regulatory decisions which will further protect public health.
I once again thank you for inviting me to participate in this important advocacy event and I take the opportunity to offer assurance of WHO’s continued support in addressing antimicrobial resistance and other priority issues for improvement of public health.