New York

17 March 2017

Interagency Coordination Group on Antimicrobial Resistance

On 21 September 2016, during the 71ST Session of the United Nations General Assembly, Member States adopted the Political Declaration of the High-level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance contained in Resolution A/RES/71/3. This reflected Member States’ recognition of the magnitude of this global problem and consensus about the actions needed to prevent a post-antibiotic era. 
 
In accordance paragraph 15 of the Political Declaration, the Secretary-General has established an ad hoc Interagency Coordination Group on Antimicrobial Resistance.
 
Today, the Secretary-General is pleased to announce the official establishment of this group, which will be co-chaired by the UN Deputy Secretary-General and the Director General of the World Health Organization. It will be comprised of high level representatives of relevant UN agencies, other international organizations, and individual experts across different sectors, including animal health, agriculture, environment, and others. There is strong gender parity among the expert members with 8 female and 7 male representatives from different regions of the world.
 
The objective of the Group will be to provide practical guidance for approaches needed to ensure sustained effective global action to address antimicrobial resistance, including options to improve coordination, taking into account the Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance. 
 
It is anticipated that the group will convene its first meeting within the next few weeks. It will produce a report to the Secretary-General for the 73rd session of General Assembly.
 
Group Members
1.   Dr Hanan Balkhy, Executive Director, Infection Prevention & Control, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Saudi Arabia
2.   Dr Jarbas Barbosa da Silva, President, National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA), Brazil
3.   Professor Otto Cars, Senior Professor, Infectious Diseases, Senior Adviser – ReAct, Uppsala University, Sweden
4.   Professor Junshi Chen, Senior Research Professor, China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment
5.   Professor Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer, Department of Health, United Kingdom
6.   Dr Lyalya Gabbasova, Assistant to the Minister of Health for AMR issues, TB, HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases, Ministry of Health, Russian Federation
7.   Ms Martha Gyansa-Lutterod, Director of Pharmaceutical Services, Ministry of Health, Ghana
8.   Ms Jaana Husu-Kallio, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Finland
9.   Mr Martin Khor, Executive Director, South Centre, Switzerland
10. Dr Marco Marzano de Marinis, Secretary-General, World Farmers Organization, Italy
11. Dr Gérard Moulin, Deputy Director, National Agency for Veterinary Medicinal Products (ANMV), and Research Director, French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health & Safety (Anses), France
12. Dr Donald Prater, Acting Assistant Commissioner for Food Safety Integration, Office of Foods and Veterinary Medicine, United States Food and Drug Administration, United States of America
13. Professor Susana Ramirez Hita, Professor, Collective Health, Environment and Society, University Andina Simon Bolivar, Ecuador
14. Dr Soumya Swaminathan, Director-General, Indian Council of Medical Research, India
15. Dr Naoko Yamamoto, Assistant Minister for Global Health and Health Industry Strategy, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, Japan
16. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) [name to be confirmed later]
17. Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria [name to be confirmed later]
18. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) [name to be confirmed later]
19. World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) [name to be confirmed later]
20. Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) [name to be confirmed later]
21. United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) [name to be confirmed later]
22. United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) [name to be confirmed later]
23. World Bank [name to be confirmed later]
24. World Customs Organization (WCO) [name to be confirmed later]
25. World Health Organization (WHO) [name to be confirmed later]
26. World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) [name to be confirmed later]
27. World Trade Organization (WTO) [name to be confirmed later]