WHO “public discussion”: Draft recommendations of the Ad hoc Interagency Coordination Group on Antimicrobial Resistance (Deadline: 19 February 2019)
“The Ad hoc Interagency Coordination Group (IACG) on Antimicrobial Resistance was convened by the UN Secretary-General in March 2017 in consultation with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the World Health Organization (WHO) following a call for its creation in the 2016 Political Declaration of the High-level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance (Resolution A/RES/71/3). The IACG’s mandate is to provide practical guidance for approaches needed to ensure sustained effective global action to address antimicrobial resistance. The terms of reference for the IACG include to promote, plan and facilitate collaborative action, to align activities so gaps are closed, and resources are optimally utilized, to explore the feasibility of developing global goals and targets related to antimicrobial resistance, and to report back to the UN Secretary-General by the 73rd General Assembly in 2019. The IACG is composed of representatives from major United Nations and multi-sectoral agencies and a range of individuals with different areas of expertise. More information on the IACG is available here.
The IACG has analysed critical issues in the response to antimicrobial resistance with the aim of informing its report and recommendations. In 2018, it developed discussion papers for public consultation in six thematic areas: 1) public awareness, behaviour change, and communication; 2) National Action Plans on Antimicrobial Resistance; 3) optimizing use of antimicrobials; 4) innovation, research, development, and access; 5) surveillance and monitoring and 6) global governance and alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To guide its activities, the IACG developed a workplan and an IACG Framework for Action on Antimicrobial Resistance that describes key content areas and relevant levers to address them, building on the political declaration, the Global Action Plan and the SDGs. Feedback obtained from a public consultation process between June and August 2018 and other stakeholder engagement activities including consultation with Member States have informed the development of the draft IACG recommendations in this document.
The IACG report and recommendations will be submitted to the UN Secretary-General by April 2019. In February 2019, prior to finalization of the report, IACG Members and the Secretariat are engaging with partners, including Member States, United Nations organizations, non-governmental and civil society organizations, private sector entities, philanthropic foundations, academic institutions and interested individuals, through web-based discussions and other events, to obtain stakeholder input on the draft recommendations and help ensure that they address key needs in the response to antimicrobial resistance.
All stakeholders are now invited to provide written feedback on the draft IACG recommendations, which may be accessed here:
All feedback should be sent to iacg-secretariat@who.int as soon as possible, and not later than 19 February 2019. Please note the following guidelines when providing feedback:
- Include the full name, title and affiliation of the respondent (e.g. representing a Member State, organization, or individual) in the email.
- Feedback should be submitted either directly in the body of the email or as an email attachment (Word document or PDF). Track changes or comments in the original document will not be considered.
- Feedback should be high level, action-orientated, precise and feasible, bearing in mind that the audience for the IACG recommendations is primarily Member States, political leaders and policy -makers, and that the recommendations aim to address urgent priorities in the global response to antimicrobial resistance and the implementation of the 2016 Political Declaration of the High-level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance.
- The draft recommendations form part of the IACG’s final report, which will include additional background materials and key messages when submitted to the Secretary-General.
As it finalizes its report and recommendations, the IACG will give all due consideration to the comments received but will not respond to individual comments directly.”
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Source: WHO website