Call for global action on anti-microbial resistance

Turning ambition into action is what the Third Global High Level Ministerial Conference on anti-microbial resistance plans to achieve through the two-day discussions being held in Muscat.

Delegated by His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, HH Sayyid Taimour bin Asaad bin Tarik al Said, Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Central Bank of Oman (CBO), inaugurated the conference. The conference aims to accelerate tackling the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) at the national, regional and global levels, as well as to promote international cooperation.

At the opening ceremony, Minister of Health, Dr Hilal bin Ali al Sabti, said fighting microbes is one of the ten challenges concerning human health. He said that if measures are not taken, globally, by 2050 it could cause 10 million deaths annually and have an impact on GDP.

More than 40 representatives from different countries are participating in the event which also wraps up the awareness week on anti-microbial resistance.

Speaking to the Observer on the sidelines of the meeting, the minister said that there is the Muscat Manifesto that is coming up from this highly important ministerial meeting.

He said, “The reason why this event is important is because of the policies and procedures that will come out of this meeting. The manifesto is important for all of us as it will ultimately show the roadmap as guiding on how we are going to streamline the processes in the future for preventing the abuse or overuse of antibiotics.”

The conference is being conducted through keynote speeches and case studies.