UNGA High-Level Meeting activities 2024: The AMR Narrative
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) High-Level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) held on September 26, 2024, was convened with a critical objective: to galvanise international efforts to tackle the escalating global health threat posed by antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The meeting aimed to reaffirm and accelerate commitments made by countries and stakeholders to address the spread of AMR, a growing problem that threatens human, animal, plant, and environmental health. The AMR Narrative actively participated in and coordinated several events both leading up to and during the High-Level Meeting. Read through the list below:
European Patients Forum: Three-part webinar series (June-September 2024)
Between June and September, The AMR Narrative co-hosted a series of webinars together with the European Patient’s Forum (EPF) which focused on how to amplify patient voices including in the community and policymaking. Further to this, our Executive Director, Vanessa Carter provided capacity development training for 30 young patients in Brussels at their annual STYPA event.
Speakers included those with a lived experience of AMR, such as Ella Balasa, John Kariuki, Rob Purdie, Pernilla Rönnholm, Krista Bracke, Diane Shader Smith and Gavin Schranz. Other speakers included Hana Bartakova, Interim Director, Health First Europe and AMR Patient Group, Antonella Cardone, CEO of Cancer Patients Europe, Dr. Danilo Lo Fo Wong, Regional Adviser Control of AMR at WHO Europe, James Malar, Rights and Gender Advisor at Stop TB Partnership, Laura Alonso and Ana Navarro at EU-JAMRAI 2, Mary Lynne Van Poelgeest-Pomfret (President World Federation of Incontinence and Pelvic Problems -WFIPP), Dominique Monnet from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and Malin Grape, Sweden’s Ambassador on Antimicrobial Resistance, Ministry of Health and Social Affairs
The webinars were moderated by Dr Francesca Chiara and Vanessa Carter (The AMR Narrative), as well as Elena Balestra and Claudia Louati (EPF).
Following the UN High-Level Meeting we wrote a joint statement reflecting our key asks here. Watch the webinar recordings here.
ReAct: Community dialogue on X.com (10 September 2024)
On the 10th of September, as a lead up to the UNGA, The AMR Narrative partnered with ReAct- Action on Antibiotic Resistance to host a community dialogue on X.com. The title of the discussion was around “How people can become community leaders to tackle the global challenge of AMR”.
27 special guests participated, including patient organisations, community groups, patients and health professionals. The 60-minute session generated 1.4 million impressions. We also had the opportunity to partner with ReAct for a side event at the UN General Assembly.
Read more about the community dialogue on X here.
The Fleming Initiative – Disruptive Innovation in AMR: A collaborative approach to change (24 September 2024)
On the 24th of September, our Founder and patient survivor, as well as serving Chair of the WHO Task Force of AMR Survivors, Vanessa Carter (UK/South Africa) presented at several side events including the Fleming Initiative‘s Disruptive Innovation in AMR meeting on the 24th of September. The event had a special focus on a collaborative approach to change and fellow speakers included Dr John-Arne Røttingen, CEO, Wellcome Trust (Chair), Professor Alison Holmes, Centre for Antimicrobial Optimisation, Imperial College London, Dr Naveen Rao, Rockefeller Foundation, Professor Jim Collins, MIT, Dame Sally Davies, UK Special Envoy on Antimicrobial Resistance and Master of Trinity College Cambridge, Dr David Reddy, Director General, IFPMA (Chair), Professor Anthony So, Johns Hopkins – IDEA Initiative, John Billington, GSK, Amanda Jezek, Infectious Diseases Society of America and Professor Mirfin Mpundu, USAID.
Vanessa focused on her experience overcoming AMR and emphasised the need to include patients and the public in the innovation process so that solutions are central to their needs. Anthony Darcovich (USA/Canada), a member of the WHO Task Force of AMR Survivors, also presented his patient perspective on the 23rd of September for the Fleming Initiative.
Global Action on Antimicrobial Resistance: Advancing Healthy Longevity and Sustainability under UHC – AMR Alliance Japan and Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) 25 September 2024
On 25 September, our founder, Vanessa also took part in a panel discussion which was co-hosted by the Health and Global Policy Institute (HGPI) and AMR Alliance Japan in partnership with the AMR Multi-Stakeholder Partnership Platform, CARB-X and Global Antibiotic R&D Partnership (GARDP).
Moderated by Ryoji Noritake (Chair, HGPI), speakers included James Anderson (Executive Director of Global Health, IFPMA), Angela Uyen Cateriano (Health Policy and Advocacy Advisor, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), Katie Dain (CEO, NCD Alliance), Hajime Inoue (Assistant Minister for Global Health and Welfare, Minister’s Secretariat, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare), Osamu Kunii (CEO and Executive Director, Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT Fund), Norio Ohmagari (Director, AMR Clinical Reference Center, National Center for Global Health and Medicine (NCGM), Kevin Outterson (Professor, Boston University; Executive Director, CARB-X) and Takuko Sawada (Director of the Board and Executive Vice President, Shionogi & Co.).
Vanessa shared her story of survival and called for improving awareness among patients and the public as well as shared her perspective around why patient participation was important to developing sustainable solutions.
Danish Consulate General in New York (Denmark In New York) Sustainability Summit (25 September 2024)
The Danish Consulate General in New York in partnership with the Novo Nordisk Foundation, and Healthcare Denmark hosted a reception which focused on Addressing the Global Health Challenge of AMR through Innovative Solutions and Global Cooperation.
The on-stage programme aimed to bring together diverse viewpoints on this issue. Vanessa Carter, Executive Director of The AMR Narrative, shared her personal experience with antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and emphasised the importance of including individual stories in raising awareness. “Numbers alone won’t suffice; they want to understand the real impact,” she explained.
Sonali Johnson, Head of Knowledge, Advocacy, and Policy at the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), highlighted that the effects of AMR are already evident throughout the healthcare system. “This isn’t just an issue for the infectious disease community; it’s crucial for all global health.”
She noted that up to one in five cancer patients undergoing treatment are hospitalised with infections that require antimicrobial treatment.
A key takeaway from the event was that no single organisation or country can tackle this issue alone. Dr. Alaa Murabit, Director of Programme Advocacy and Communications for Health at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, stated, “The causes, drivers, and consequences are multisectoral. The voices addressing this must be as well.”
This sentiment was echoed by Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen: “It’s a challenge that extends beyond health. Resistance threatens our collective future and calls for collective solutions.”
High-Level Meeting for AMR: 26 September 2024
Our Executive Director and Founder, as well as patient survivor, Vanessa Carter took part in panel 1 at the High-Level meeting which focused on addressing the urgent antimicrobial resistance crisis across the human, animal, plant, and environmental sectors through equity, access, building awareness, and innovation. She had earlier in May shared her story of survival as an opening speaker during the multi-stakeholder meeting in preparation for the high-level event.
She was joined by one of our board of trustees Dr Wendy Thompson (UK). Dr Nour Shamas who is a carer to her mother (Lebanon), member of the WHO Task Force of AMR Survivors and acts as an external advisor to the charity also participated in the panel 2 discussion which focused on human health, animal health and welfare, agrifood systems, and protecting the environment to tackle antimicrobial resistance, through integrated surveillance, capacity-building, sustainable resources, financing, and investment.
Our charity had several key asks which included the active participation of patients, carers, survivors and patient organisations in the fight to tackle AMR and developing meaningful mechanisms, including funding to enable their involvement.
During the plenary session, Ella Balasa from the USA and John Kariuki from Kenya, both members of the WHO Task Force of AMR Survivors, shared their inspiring patient stories, which resonated deeply with everyone in attendance. Watch the recording here.
While significant progress has been made in acknowledging the importance of including patients, carers, and survivors in the AMR response, as reflected in the Political Declaration, further efforts are necessary to turn this recognition into reality. Additionally, having more patient representatives and groups present at these important meetings is essential to ensure their voices are heard and considered in the decision-making process.