Factors such as complex health needs mean that the elderly are especially affected by antimicrobial resistance CARPHA member states and territories in December 2014. The workshop was further supported by the Department of Health, UK Science and Innovation Network and the International Association of National Public Health Institutes. The Public Health Agency of Canada, Pan American Health Organization and World Health Organization supported planning and participated at the event. The workshop provided a forum for CARPHA, its membership and international partners to work together to identify key steps that the region needs to take to tackle AMR. These types of initiatives need to be encouraged to promote international collaboration and shared learning, and develop professional networks. International collaboration The threat of AMR is grave, but it is shared by all countries. The challenges faced by different countries vary, but some priorities for action are common to all. The only way we can tackle AMR is through collaboration at international, national and regional levels, working across professional boundaries towards a common goal. The recent World Health Assembly resolution on AMR started this collaboration, but there is still much work to be done.5 The resolution, ratified in 2014, mandates the development of a World Health Organization (WHO) Global Action plan (GAP) on AMR, which will be launched later this year.6 The GAP provides a flexible framework for countries to develop national plans that address the priority AMR issues in their individual countries, recognising that countries will be at different stages. Implementation is being H e a l t h c a r e s y s t ems a n d a n t imi c r o b i a l r e s i s t a n c e facilitated by the USA-led Global Health Security Agenda, which provides support for countries to build their health systems, working towards the goals of the GAP. Robust and effective health care systems underpin the global response to AMR. We must all work towards UHC, to strengthen our health care systems and develop the infrastructure and workforce to improve the prevention, surveillance and treatment of infections. But this is only part of the solution. We need to invest in drug development to generate new antibiotics, and we must fundamentally change how we view and use antibiotics as members of the public, as patients and as health professionals. Our global organisations are starting to rise to the challenge, with the WHO developing a global action plan and supporting countries in developing their own national plans. We must keep AMR high on the political agenda because without concerted action, we risk losing the many benefits of modern medicine that have been made possible by antimicrobial agents in the last 70 years. Endnotes 1 See www.who.int/world-health-day/2012/toolkit/background/ en/ Accessed 12 April 2015. 2 Public Health England, Annual epidemiological commentary 2013–14. See www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/ attachment_data/file/330529/HCAI_mandatory_surveillance_an nual_epidemiological_commentary_2013_14.pdf Accessed 12 April 2015. Commonwealth Health Partnerships 2015 49 Alexander Raths / Shutterstock.com
Commonwealth Health Partnerships 2015
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