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Antimicrobial resistance
The ability of microorganisms to resist antimicrobial treatments, especially antibiotics – has a direct impact on human and animal health and carries a heavy economic burden due to higher costs of treatments and reduced productivity caused by sickness. AMR is responsible for an estimated 33,000 deaths per year in the EU. It is also estimated that AMR costs the EU €1.5 billion per year in healthcare costs and productivity losses.
EU One Health Action Plan against AMR
In June 2017, the European Commission adopted the EU One Health Action Plan against AMR. The key objectives of this plan are built on 3 main pillars:
The Commission has also adopted the first deliverables of the plan, for example the EU Guidelines on the prudent use of antimicrobials in human health. The guidelines aim to reduce inappropriate use and promote prudent use of antimicrobials in people. They target all actors who are responsible for or play a role in antimicrobial use. This complements the EU Guidelines on the prudent use of antimicrobials in animal health. The European Commission issues twice a year a progress report as regards the 2017 “EU AMR Action Plan”. Since the implementation of the 2017 AMR EU Action Plan, important updates have been made in order to further strengthen EU’s response to AMR:
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EU AMR One-Health Network
The EU AMR One-Health Network, chaired by the European Commission, includes government experts from the human health, animal health and environmental sector, the EU scientific agencies (ECDC, EMA, and EFSA) and Commission experts.
The bi-annual EU AMR One-Health Network meetings provide members with a platform to present national action plans and strategies and keep each other up to date on their progress, to share best practices, and to discuss policy options and how to enhance cooperation and coordination.
- Read more on Meetings of the One Health Network