The Quadripartite organizations announced yesterday the establishment of a technical group that will help guide countries in their efforts to monitor antimicrobial use and resistance.
The technical group will advise the Quadripartite Organizations—the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Organization for Animal Health, the Food and Agriculture Organizations of the United Nations (UN), and the UN Environment Programme—on the needs, scope, and form of integrated surveillance necessary for countries to be able to accurately track antimicrobial use (AMU) and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in humans, animals, and the environment.
Integrated surveillance is considered one of the critical elements of the multisectoral national action plans on AMR that countries have been tasked with developing by the WHO and the UN. But many countries, particularly low- and middle-income nations, have limited capacity for building strong surveillance systems.
The group will include experts in AMU and AMR surveillance across sectors, including human health, terrestrial and aquatic animal health, plant health, food systems, and the environment. One of their goals will be to create a harmonized, sector-specific framework for how antimicrobials are used and monitored and how AMR surveillance is conducted.
"Effective surveillance of antimicrobial use and resistance within and across sectors is an integral part of efforts to monitor the spread and impact of resistance and to mount an effective One Health response," Hanan Balkhy, WHO Assistant Director-General on AMR, said in a press release.