Dr Itani, Director of the Office of Global Health Cooperation, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan
Dr Piukala, my colleague & WHO compatriot, Regional Director for the Western Pacific,
Esteemed Delegates from Member States,
Colleagues,
A good morning to you all.
It is a pleasure for me to be with you today. The topic of this virtual consultation - fighting antimicrobial resistance in the Asia Pacific - is an absolutely vital one.
As you know, antimicrobial medicines, including antibiotics, are critical tools for fighting diseases, not just in humans but also in animals and plants. It is a matter of great concern that these medicines are becoming ineffective.
Our countries are already grappling with the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases. We can ill afford the additional burden of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and the attendant threats of mortality, morbidity, and economic loss.
The challenge of addressing the threat of AMR is real, urgent, and affects us all. It requires coordination across several sectors and stakeholders, spanning human health and animal health, to agriculture and environment.
We will need to work together to promote the whole of society, whole of government and “One Health” approaches to address AMR. We should also encourage behaviour change for the careful use of antimicrobials across all relevant sectors and convey the message that simple actions can make a big difference.
Some of you may remember that as early as 2010, our Member States in the South-East Asia Region endorsed the Regional Committee Resolution on the Regional Strategy on Prevention and Containment of AMR.
To invoke greater political support, Health Ministers adopted the 2011 Jaipur Declaration on Prevention and Containment of Antimicrobial Resistance in the South-East Asia Region.
These actions were taken by our Member States before the rest of the world adopted the global action plan on AMR in 2015.
AMR will be the subject of discussion during the 77th World Health Assembly later this month, and at the United Nations (UN) High-level Meeting in September 2024. Both offer opportunities to increase awareness - which is much needed given the significance of the issue, the lack of related financing issue, and the slow progress in implementing interventions.
I should point out that today’s meeting will be followed by a Ministerial-level meeting during the World Health Assembly. This will be to endorse one voice of Asia Pacific countries in a joint statement to the UN High-Level Meeting later this year.
I would like to conclude by thanking the Government of Japan for their leadership to bring all countries together for this ‘one Asia Pacific voice’ to the UNGA high-level meeting on AMR.
I am pleased to affirm that our WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia - in collaboration with the WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the United Nations Environmental Program, and the World Organization for Animal Health - will continue our commitment to assist Asia Pacific countries in accelerating the actions to fight antimicrobial resistance under the “One Health” approach.
I wish you all a fruitful discussion during this consultation to achieve our objective of an agreed joint statement for Asia Pacific countries.
Thank you.