Oman to host global conference on antimicrobial resistance
The Sultanate of Oman will this week host the Third Global High-level Ministerial Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).
The opening ceremony will be held under the auspices of His Highness Sayyid Taimur bin Asa’ad bin Tariq Al Said.
The two-day Conference, which begins on Thursday, is organised by the Government of the Sultanate of Oman, represented by the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources in cooperation with the Gulf Health Council for the Cooperation Council States as well the four-way alliance formed by the United Nations to monitor antibiotic resistance. This includes the World Health Organisation (WHO), Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
The Directors General and Presidents of the WHO, FAO, OIE, and UNEP will take part in the Conference as well as 50 representatives from different countries. Global experts on the human health, animal health, environment, economic, and agricultural aspects of AMR have been invited.
Conducting the event in Oman represents a shift for the conference to include regions beyond the European continent. It offers opportunities to exchange experiences and benefit from the actions taken in those countries to reduce the spread of antibiotic-resistant microbes and their adverse health and economic effects.
Under the theme “The AMR Pandemic: from Policy to One Health Action,” the Conference aims to accelerate tackling antimicrobial resistance at national, regional, and global levels and to enhance international cooperation.
Its objectives include promoting the importance of a political commitment to the One Health approach in addressing AMR; highlighting the role of the environment in the spread of AMR and promoting the importance of surveillance and monitoring of both AMR and antimicrobial use across humans, animals and the environment. It also aims to share successful examples of the whole-of-government and One Health approaches to tackle AMR, as well as providing opportunities for collaboration and partnership between countries and international organisations to address AMR in the context of Sustainable Development Goals.
It is hoped that a key outcome of the Conference will be an agreement on a Muscat Manifesto on accelerating One Health action on AMR to meet the 2030 Sustainable Development Goal targets. It is further hoped that the Muscat Manifesto will then be discussed at the UN General Assembly High Level Meeting on AMR in 2024.