11 countries in South-East Asia are making progress against their AMR National Action Plans, new WHO report shows
Supported by a range of key stakeholders (including the Fleming Fund), the World Health Organization (WHO) recently published the Third Progress Analysis of the Implementation of Antimicrobial Resistance National Action Plans (NAP-AMRs) in South-East Asia.
The analysis shows that progress against the NAP-AMR was made in all eleven WHO Member States in the region during the period from 2018 to 2021, with Bhutan, Indonesia and Thailand making the greatest advancements. This is despite the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated challenges.
Results
Progress in the implementation of NAP-AMR for all countries in the region was 64% - much better compared to the 2nd Situational Analysis in 2018 of only 40% and the First Situational Analysis in 2016 of 16%. Countries did not report backward slides in the implementation status during 2021 compared to the situational analysis in 2018.
The Third Progress Analysis published in 2022 also observed progress in all eight focus areas. This demonstrates that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, prevention and control of AMR has remained a public health priority.
It is vital to engage the public to help address the ‘silent pandemic’, estimated by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) to be responsible for the deaths of 254,000 people in Southeast Asia, East Asia and Oceania in 2019.