A plaque on the side of the Saint Mary’s Hospital in Paddington, London, UK, commemorates the discovery of penicillin, the first antibiotic, in 1928. Fungal spores, blown by the wind, landed on Sir Alexander Fleming's Petri dishes killing the bacteria he was growing leading to a revolution in medicine.
Fleming Fund joins world leaders at UN General Assembly to accelerate action against AMR
At the UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting (UNGA-HLM) on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in New York, governments signed a Political Declaration setting the agenda for global action to tackle the growing threat of AMR and work towards healthcare equity.
This was the second high-level meeting on AMR since 2016, with the theme − ‘Investing in the present and securing our future together: accelerating multisectoral global, regional and national actions to address antimicrobial resistance’. The Declaration acknowledged the need for a coordinated response to strengthen fragile health systems and address the unrelenting issue of the AMR pandemic. Senior government representatives recognised the Fleming Fund’s leading contribution at the meeting.
Building effective AMR surveillance
During the UNGA week, Mott MacDonald, Fleming Fund Management Agent, with regional grantees from the International Vaccine Institute (IVI), and the American Society for Laboratory Medicine (ASLM) led the side event ‘Building AMR Surveillance Systems – successful approaches from the Fleming Fund’, exploring the value of robust surveillance in low- and middle-income countries.
The UK Special Envoy for AMR Prof Dame Sally Davies opened the meeting, followed by representatives from the Ministries of Health from Malawi, Zambia, and Cambodia. The event focused on practical experiences of building surveillance for AMR and strategies for continued investment.
Moderated by the Fleming Fund’s Africa Director Patrick Mubangizi, participants heard from the following Fleming Fund partners:
- Dr Shirley Tarawali, International Livestock Research Institute, on the complexity of controlling AMR in animal species.
- Dr Florian Marks, International Vaccine Institute, on optimising data use to inform national and global policy.
- Nqobile Ndlovu, African Society of Laboratory Medicine, on the importance of laboratories to the human healthcare ecosystem.
Followed by a panel discussion with:
- Tom Pilcher, UK Department of Health and Social Care.
- Dr Bassim Zyed, WHO South-East Asia Region.
- Dr Evelyn Wesangula, East Central and Southern Africa Health Community (ECSA-HC) and Fleming Fund Alumni Policy Fellow.
Panel members from the Fleming Fund's UNGA-HLM on AMR side event.
With over 60 multinational organisations, governments, and funders in attendance, themes presented and discussed stressed the critical role of surveillance in the fight against AMR and the importance of sustained funding. The event highlighted Fleming Fund lessons and successes locally, nationally, and regionally. The speakers emphasised a One Health approach across human, animal, and environmental health — aligned with the broader UNGA discussions of active, united global efforts and resolution on AMR.
The intersectoral challenge of AMR demands a One Health systems approach that unites human, animal, plant, and environmental health, backed by robust and accountable global AMR governance.
FAO Director-General QU Dongyu (WHO press release - 'World leaders commit to decisive action on antimicrobial resistance')
UN-HLM on AMR
Opened by Dame Sally (centre), speakers and Mott MacDonald representatives at the Fleming Fund's UNGA-HLM on AMR side event.
The UN-HLM on AMR was the only official health-focused event of the UNGA week. Member States acknowledged the Fleming Fund’s work to advance AMR control in their speeches as a testament to the programme’s key role over the past seven years. The Head of Africa CDC, Jean Kaseya, quoted research undertaken by ASLM, funded through a Fleming Fund Regional Grant.
The Political Declaration approved by the Member States, which called for existing global funds to focus more on AMR and national governments to set aside domestic, in-country resources − committing to targets and actions in the next five years, including:
- Sustainable national financing and $100m in catalytic funding with at least 60% of countries having funded national action plans on AMR by 2030.
- The establishment of an independent panel for evidence for action against AMR and a refresh of the Global Action Plan on AMR by 2026.
- A reduction in the number of deaths associated with bacterial AMR by 10% each year by 2030, with 70% of human health antibiotics in the WHO Access group (lower potential to cause AMR).
- A reduction in the quantity of antimicrobials used in global agri-food systems.
- A step change in efforts to prevent and address the discharge of antimicrobials into the environment.
Countries from across the world came together for the High-Level Meeting on AMR at the United Nations. They committed to urgent action to save lives: equitable access to antibiotics, sustainable financing, and a new independent science panel. I am proud that the actions agreed and that will be delivered represent the hard work of so many from the AMR community worldwide. The Fleming Fund’s investment in AMR laboratories, workforce, and systems is a vital contribution to realising the vision of the political declaration. I was delighted to join the Fleming Fund event ahead of the HLM, which shared real, exciting, and inspiring progress across countries and communities and showed what can be achieved. I hope to see more of it.
Prof Dame Sally Davies, UK Special Envoy for AMR.
Further links
World leaders commit to decisive action on antimicrobial resistance
Creating a virtuous cycle of AMR investment., authored by Patrick Mubangizi, Fleming Fund Regional Director, Africa.
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