New York, 26 September 2024 – In a landmark achievement for global health, world leaders have officially adopted the Political Declaration on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) at the UN High-Level Meeting on AMR, recognizing drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) as a critical component of the global AMR response. The declaration underscores the urgent need for coordinated global action to combat AMR, a threat that claims 1.27 million lives each year.
The passage of the declaration marks a significant moment in the fight against AMR. The inclusion of DR-TB as a key priority follows sustained advocacy from the Stop TB Partnership and its partners, who have long emphasized the need for stronger action to address the threat of drug resistance in TB and need to prioritize TB in global AMR efforts.
"Today's adoption of the Political Declaration on AMR is a testament to the global community's recognition of the urgent need to address the full spectrum of antimicrobial resistance, including the critical issue of drug-resistant TB," said Dr. Lucica Ditiu, Executive Director of the Stop TB Partnership. "This is not just a victory for the TB community but for global health as a whole. We now have a clear mandate to intensify efforts to end TB as part of the broader AMR response."
Key Highlights of the AMR Political Declaration include:
- DR-TB has been recognized as an essential component of the global AMR efforts . The text expresses grave concern that DR-TB places an additional burden on health and community systems, especially in low- and middle-income countries, and poses a critical challenge that could reverse the progress made against the disease, against antimicrobial resistance and towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
- A target to reduce the global deaths associated with AMR by 10% by 2030 and a funding target of USD 100 million to catalyse the achievement of at least 60 per cent of countries having funded AMR plans by 2025.
- The declaration recognizes the Stop TB Partnership’s Global Drug Facility as a key procurement and market-shaping instrument, recognizing its key role in supplying TB and AMR medicines to countries.
- A paragraph proposed by the TB community recognizes the need to support vulnerable groups. It recognizes the profound socioeconomic challenges and financial hardships faced by people affected by antimicrobial resistance and affirms that people require integrated, people-centred prevention, diagnosis, treatment, management of side effects, and care, as well as psychosocial, nutritional and socioeconomic support, including to reduce stigma and discrimination.
- Agreement to establish an independent panel for evidence for action against antimicrobial resistance in 2025.
The Stop TB Partnership applauds the commitment demonstrated by UN Member States and calls on them to provide the required funding to implement the declaration's commitments. The declaration provides a critical opportunity to mobilize resources, political will, and the partnerships necessary to tackle DR-TB and broader AMR challenges.
The Stop TB Partnership will work closely with governments, civil society, and international organizations to ensure the commitments made in the Political Declaration are translated into concrete action, and also calls on leaders to follow through on the commitments and targets made in the UN Political Declaration on TB agreed during last year’s UN High-Level Meeting on TB. We will only succeed in the fight against AMR if we follow through on achieving the promises in the TB Political Declaration
You can watch the UN High-Level Meeting on AMR taking place today here.
