NUTRITION

Antimicrobial resistance. On August 18, international organizations in a tripartite alliance – the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the World Health Organization (WHO) – launched a public consultation as a preliminary step in the development of a multi-stakeholder platform for the fight against bacterial resistance to antibiotics, which will reach those used in animals for subsequent consumption. The survey (prepared in English, Spanish or French) must be submitted by September 18 and the results will be published before the end of the year.

Membership in the Platform will be open to private sector partners representing sectors that affect or are affected by antimicrobial resistance (AMR). A call for membership will be opened on a geographic basis and with sufficient representation to address AMR challenges. By participating in the Platform, members will be able to work in action groups, which will present specific topics and subtopics and drive actions, which will be reported to the Steering Committee.

With the creation of this platform, the three organizations aspire to find a space for global dialogue to enable the correct use of antibiotics in food production. This would include measures to guarantee correct safety in meat production, an area where in recent years the excessive use of some antibiotics has been questioned.  Thus, the space could be key in the drafting of future plans that establish concrete measures or guidelines to regulate these uses.

Next steps

The results of the survey, to be published at the end of the year, will allow the tripartite association to determine the formal attributions that the Platform will have. The creation of the platform is a recommendation of the United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination Group on Antimicrobial Resistance (IACG). The objective of the platform will be to bring together multiple stakeholders globally to help preserve antimicrobials as life-saving medicines for humans, animals and plants, as well as to reduce the impact of AMR in support of the global action plan.