Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death.

What is One Health Approach

• The plan for the ‘One Health’ goal comes from an agreement between the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Organisation for Animal Health, and the World Health Organization (WHO) (OIE).
• The overall goal is to promote research collaborations and knowledge exchange across numerous disciplines, such as human health, animal health, plants, soil, environmental, and ecosystem health, in order to enhance, preserve, and defend the health of all species.
• In 2007, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) coined the phrase “One World-One Health,” along with 12 proposals (the Manhattan Principles) aimed at developing a more holistic approach to disease prevention and ecological integrity.

How One Health Approach helps

• The strategic framework published in a report April 6, 2022 to advance a One Health response to AMR at the global, regional and country levels is a joint effort by the World Health Organization (WHO), Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).
• The goal of the strategic framework is to preserve antimicrobial efficacy and ensure sustainable and equitable access to antimicrobials for responsible and prudent use in human, animal and plant health, contributing to achieving the UN-mandated Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• To achieve this goal, the objectives, mentioned in the framework are:
• Optimize the production and use of antimicrobials along the whole life cycle — from research and development to disposal — and decrease the incidence of infection in humans, animals and plants to reduce the development and spread of AMR.
• The overall impact to which the four organisations aim to contribute through their collaboration is for countries to have the capacity to design and sustainably implement evidence-informed One Health responses to AMR.

Way forward

• Policy and law support effective country-owned One Health AMR responses: Recognise AMR as a priority in the broader development agenda, acknowledging the need for capacity building to strengthen AMR-specific legislation, policy coherence and sector-specific research.
• Systems and structures, including institutional capacities, are in place to support effective implementation of country-owned One Health AMR responses: National Action Plans on AMR and guidelines to be regularly updated including monitoring and surveillance of AMR and antimicrobial use (AMU). Access to good quality antimicrobials strengthened for all sectors.
• Increased, sustained resourcing is in place for country-owned One Health AMR responses: Priority actions from national action plans on AMR mainstreamed into national plans and budgets.

https://www.downtoearth.org.in/blog/governance/new-who-report-highlights-collaborative-action-to-reduce-antimicrobial-resistance-82355

How to structure:

1. Give an intro about AMR
2. Explain why AMR is a major global threat
3. Examine how One Health approach can address AMR
4. Mention challenges Suggest measures
5. Conclude