Mónica García defends National Antibiotic Resistance Plan at the UN

The Minister for Health, Mónica García, speaks at the UN High Level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance

Health Minister Mónica García has defended Spain's current Spain's National Antibiotic Resistance Plan during the events taking place in New York in the framework of the United Nations High-Level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance, which is being held in New York in parallel to the UN General Assembly.

"I have come to express Spain's strong support for the political declaration of this 79th General Assembly of the United Nations regarding the urgent problem of antimicrobial resistance," said the Minister for Health, "fully recognising the seriousness of this challenge and the need for a global and coordinated response.

The minister participated in the event 'Fostering an Equitable Global Response to antimicrobial resistance', organised by the World Health Organization and the Pan American Health Organization, where she explained that "the Ministry of Health, through the National Plan against antimicrobial resistance and in collaboration with other organisations involved, is committed to fulfilling the objectives established in this declaration, to protect public health and preserve the efficacy of these vital medicines".

"The current National Antibiotic Resistance Plan sets out its work objectives with a 'One Health' perspective and includes improvements in monitoring, training of professionals, awareness campaigns and inter-sectoral collaboration", explained the minister for health at the event "Fostering CrossCountry Solidarity to Address Antimicrobial Resistance in the WHO European Region and Beyond", organised by the Swedish Mission to the UN and the WHO Collaborating Centre for the Containment of Antimicrobial Resistance.

She added that with "the implementation of these measures we have managed to significantly reduce the use of antimicrobials by up to 13% in human health and 70% in animal health". In addition, the minister recalled that "Spain has approved the regulatory framework for the accreditation of optimised antimicrobial use programmes, a new and unique accreditation system in Europe that includes standards for the implementation, monitoring and auditing of these teams".

Mónica García also stressed that "international cooperation is a key pillar in this effort" and that "the increase in antimicrobial resistance requires a political commitment to move towards production models that are more sustainable for the environment, for animal health and for the health, both physical and mental, of the people who work in this sector".

This is "a similar commitment to that which also exists with climate change, a public health emergency that also demands global action by all countries to protect the health of the population and which we have some evidence that it can worsen antimicrobial resistance".

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