South Centre News on AMR 9, 24 October 2017

G77 and China highlights priorities for tackling AMR

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has featured prominently in the Declaration issued by Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Group of 77 and China at their 40th annual meeting, held at the  United Nations (UN) in New York on 22 September 2017.

The G77 and China is an umbrella body that represents the developing countries at the United Nations, and its members comprise over two thirds of the 193 countries in the UN. Thus the views of the G77 & China Ministers carry a lot of weight in international affairs.  

In the Declaration, the Ministers noted that antimicrobial resistance, which is reducing our ability to treat infections, is a universal challenge and global public health threat.

They highlighted three priority areas for action:
– To enhance international cooperation for developing countries to take action on AMR;
– To ensure affordable and equitable access to existing and new antimicrobial medicines, vaccines and diagnostic tools; and
– To increase innovation in new antimicrobial medicines, vaccines and diagnostic tools by supporting models that delink research and development costs from prices and sales volume, and follow the agreed principles of affordability, effectiveness, efficiency and equity.

The relevant paragraphs (referring to AMR) in the Ministerial Declaration is reproduced below.   

The South Centre

EXTRACT FROM THE DECLARATION OF FOREIGN MINISTERS OF THE G77 AND CHINA, 22 SEPT. 2017, NEW YORK

130. The Ministers reaffirmed that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a universal challenge for all humankind and requires international cooperation to achieve action at the local, national and regional levels. It has the potential to challenge the international community’s ability to deal with common infections at the global level and therefore seriously impact global public health, as well as overall development gains achieved thus far. Furthermore, failure to address AMR can also hamper efforts to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in particular, in developing countries.
131. The Ministers welcome the adoption of the political declaration of the high-level meeting of the General Assembly on antimicrobial resistance;  in this context, the Ministers reiterated the importance of enhancing international cooperation in the realm of AMR, including through the fulfillment of international obligations and commitments in development cooperation. They stressed that, in implementation, addressing AMR must not in any way further hinder affordable and equitable access to existing and new antimicrobial medicines, vaccines and diagnostic tools, taking into account the needs of all countries, in line with the WHO Global Action Plan on AMR.
132. The Ministers emphasized the need to support, as a matter of urgency, research and development of antimicrobials, especially new antibiotics, vaccines, diagnostic tools and innovation, including in traditional and herbal medicine. They highlight that this must be done while ensuring that R&D efforts are needs-driven, evidence-based, and a shared responsibility, and that these efforts must be guided by the core principles of affordability, effectiveness, efficiency, and equity through delinking research and development costs from prices and sales volume.

The Declaration of Foreign Ministers of the G77 and China, 22 September 2017, New York, is available in full at http://www.g77.org/doc/Declaration2017.htm.

The statement of the G77 and China, delivered at the plenary of the high-level meeting on AMR, 21 September 2016, New York, is available at http://www.g77.org/statement/getstatement.php?id=160921.