13 September 2016: UN Member States have approved a political declaration that will serve as the outcome document of the upcoming High-level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), following completion of a silence procedure. The UN General Assembly (UNGA) President also released an information note and provisional programme for the one-day event, indicating that interactive panel discussions will focus on: the relevance of addressing AMR for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular the health-related goals; and addressing the multi-sectoral implications and implementation challenges of AMR in a comprehensive manner.

UNGA President Mogens Lykketoft conveyed the draft outcome document to UN Member States on 13 September, noting that the silence procedure that took place on 8-9 September was not broken. The declaration is expected to be approved at the High-level Meeting on AMR convening in New York, US, on 21 September 2016, and then adopted by the UNGA.

The draft outcome reaffirms the World Health Organization’s (WHO) ‘Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance’ as the blueprint for addressing AMR, and requests the UN Secretary-General to establish an ad hoc interagency group to guide further global action. The declaration also calls on the WHO to work with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) to finalize a global development and stewardship framework to support the development, control, distribution and appropriate use of new AMR medicines, diagnostic tools and other interventions, while preserving existing AMR medicines and promoting affordable access to existing and new AMR medicines. [Letter from UNGA President] [Information Note and Programme] [High-Level Meeting Webpage] [IISD RS Story on Draft Outcome of AMR High-Level Meeting]