On today’s European Antibiotic Awareness Day, the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe (FVE) and the Standing Committee of European Doctors (CPME) urge the incoming European Commissioner for Health and Animal Welfare to continue taking actions to mitigate further the antimicrobial resistance burden and to meet the EU’s 2030 targets.
Recent declarations by the United Nations and the G20 have heightened the global awareness for the urgency of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), raising the stakes to strive for more action on AMR in the European Commission’s next mandate.
We welcome the mention of AMR in the Commissioner-Designate’s mission letter and call for a detailed strategy to stress the need for updating the 2017 European Action Plan against AMR, where cooperation between public health, veterinary, and environmental sectors, rooted in the One Health approach, must be strengthened.
The ECDC has today published the annual epidemiological reports on resistance and consumption, highlighting that significant progress will need to be made to meet the 2030 targets, with especially worrying results for certain last-resort antibiotics.
CPME President, Dr Christiaan Keijzer, said “The latest figures remind us that much more work needs to be done to meet our targets for human health. We cannot regress. The fight against AMR is one that no sector, nation, or individual can tackle alone. We are encouraged by the political will demonstrated in the UN and G20 declarations, and we believe Europe must now commit to making real improvements.”
FVE President, Dr. Siegfried Moder, said “FVE welcomes the Political Declaration reached at the UN General Assembly, which advances efforts AMR through a One Health approach that recognizes the vital links between human, animal, and environmental health. The Declaration is a powerful endorsement of global consensus on tackling this urgent global health threat. Europe has led the fight against AMR over the past decade and animal health Sector remains committed to this path.”
