Outcomes of the 142nd session of the WHO Executive Board
The 142nd session of the WHO Executive Board discussed several critical public health issues including a recommendation to the WHA to approve the General Program of Work (GPW), the adoption of important decisions relating to access to medicines and research and development and a draft resolution on the preparation of the UN High Level Meeting on Tuberculosis.
This week the Prince Mahidol Awards conference will bring a global spotlight to the threat of emerging infectious diseases. The growing challenge of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) will feature prominently in these discussions. The timing could not be better, but we urgently need to see more action on the part of the UN Interagency Coordination Group on AMR and key intergovernmental agencies gathering in Bangkok. (more…)
This update provides a snapshot of the activities of the Development, Innovation and Intellectual Property Programme during the month of December 2017.
There are several key social and environmental issues to watch out for in 2018 as they are close to reaching a tipping point, says this preview of the new year by the South Centre’s Executive Director Martin Khor. (more…)
Antibiotic resistance, now widened to be called antimicrobial resistance, is the world’s greatest public health risk and threat. We are now so used to using antibiotics that it is almost unthinkable what would happen to our state of health if there were none available. Or if the antibiotics don’t work anymore.
Health leaders are sounding the alarm bell. The Chief Medical Officer of the United Kingdom has warned of a looming “catastrophe” so widespread that we would be back to a pre-antibiotic era when many diseases could not be treated. The World Health Organisation’s then Director General has said the world is heading towards a post-antibiotics era in which common infections such as strep throat or a child’s scratched knee could once again kill. It may even bring the end of modern medicine. And heads of states and governments in 2016 adopted a landmark Political Declaration recognising that antibiotic resistance is the “greatest and most urgent global risk”.
This book is a collection of articles written over two decades, tracing the antimicrobial resistance problem as it evolved through the years into a full blown crisis. It also contains the author’s speaking notes at the UN General Assembly summit-level special event on AMR. It provides news and opinions in popular language on various aspects of AMR, as the problem emerged and then developed into the present day public health catastrophe.
Author: Martin Khor is the Executive Director of the South Centre.
This update provides a snapshot of the activities of the Development, Innovation and Intellectual Property Programme during the month of November 2017.
The Value Added of the United Nations General Assembly High–Level Political Declaration on Antimicrobial Resistance
In September 2016, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York held a dedicated meeting to muster strong political commitment for an effective global response to the problem of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). As a result, a High-Level Political Declaration on Antimicrobial Resistance was adopted.