Philippine Secretary of Health Dr Paulyn Rosell-Ubial called for multi sectoral action on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) while attending the UN General Assembly High Level Meeting in New York that just approved the first-ever Political Declaration on Antimicrobial Resistance. In the presence of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and other world leaders Secretary Ubial cited the example of the Philippines as one of the first countries in Asia that has developed a multi-sectoral action plan to protect its population from antimicrobial resistance. In 2015 the Philippine Department of Health also spearheaded the 1st Philippine Anti-Microbial Resistance Summit which addressed the misuse of antibiotics, driving the emergence of AMR.
Rapidly emerging resistance of microbes such as bacteria and viruses against common medications around the world is threatening medical progress made in the treatment of infections over the last decades. This is the first time Heads of State committed to taking a broad, coordinated approach to address the root causes of AMR across multiple sectors, especially human health, animal health and agriculture.
The Political Declaration calls for the full implementation of the Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance developed by the World Health Organization in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Organization for Animal Health. The high-level meeting was convened by the President of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly, H.E. Peter Thomson who stated that “the future of humanity will depend on our ability to respond to the challenge of antimicrobial resistance."