“The good news is that antimicrobial resistance is starting to get attention at the highest political levels. This series of research articles shows how we can achieve real progress by working together across countries and using the full range of international legal mechanisms.”
– Steven J. Hoffman, Associate Professor of Law and Director of the Global Strategy Lab, University of Ottawa
The Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics Summer 2015 issue focuses on “Antibiotic Resistance” and includes a series of articles detailing the need for global collective action for ABR and what tools are needed to achieve it. The series sought input from experts from a diverse range of academic and professional disciplines – each of whom brings a unique perspective to advancing global health. This series was supported by ReAct, the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.
What kind of actions must be taken to address the growing threat of antibiotic resistance (ABR)? What are the legal, political and economic tools needed to achieve global action on this problem? This special edition provides evidence-based guidance on how governments and non-state actors can collectively employ a comprehensive response to the global threat of ABR and is an important contribution in the discussion of how science and policy can be harnessed in the interest of global health.
“Solving the global challenge of antimicrobial resistance needs to build on solid analyses of how governments can commit to securing sustainable access to effective antibiotics together. A cross-disciplinary collaborative effort, as witnessed by this series, is the strong platform we must build from.”
– John-Arne Røttingen, Director of Infectious Disease Control, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Norway
In the piece entitled “Universal Access to Effective Antibiotics is Essential for Tackling Antibiotic Resistance”, Otto Cars of ReAct Europe along with Nils Daulaire, Abhay Bang, Göran Tomson, and Joan N. Kalyango write that ensuring appropriate, universal access to antimicrobial drugs is critical to achieving the “right to health” as enshrined in various international agreements and organizations including the World Health Organization (WHO). To realize this, they call for collective global action across specific areas including: developing ubiquitous treatment protocols, establishing an international framework and regulations, tailoring interventions to community needs and realities, ensuring effective access to providers trained in standardized regimens, assuring access to affordable antimicrobials, and setting up monitoring and surveillance data systems.
In another piece (“An Integrated Systems Approach is Needed to Ensure the Sustainability of Antibiotic Effectiveness for Both Humans and Animals”), Antibiotic Resistance Coalition (ARC) members from ReAct North America (Anthony D. So, Tejen A. Shah), Food Animal Concerns Trust (Steven A. Roach), Third World Network (Yoke Chee Ling), as well as Keeve E. Nachman from the Center for a Livable Future at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health called for a “One Health” approach in combating AMR.
This call for an integrated approach across disciplines should address the contribution of antimicrobials in food animals to drug resistance and human infection. The authors propose an international agreement as a vehicle to enable a framework for global coordination. They further propose guiding principles for such a framework including allowing countries flexibility in implementing requirements due to variations in development and local context as well as minimizing disruption of food supplies and livelihoods of farmers by tying transition period milestones to the availability of such support. The international agreement would also serve as an overarching One Health umbrella to integrate surveillance data collection, monitoring and enforcement, research, technical assistance, and financing across countries. The authors conclude that such an agreement would allow for much-needed global coordination to overcome the barriers that domestic measures alone cannot overcome to combat the spread of AMR.
“Many in the world recognize the problem of antibiotic resistance, but no one has attempted a solution that integrates all three key objectives: global access, conservation, and real innovation. This series lays the foundation for a global architecture to address this critical problem threatening humanity. If we cannot act collectively to save antibiotics – the most important drug class on human history – then we will have failed as stewards of this great gift.”
– Kevin Outterson, Professor of Law and N. Neal Pike Scholar in Health & Disability Law, Boston University, USA
Please click here to access the whole issue.