AMR Talks at United Nations General Assembly

By Andrew Bowskill

The most significant week in global antimicrobial resistance (AMR) policy has kicked off in New York City (NYC) with the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) High Level Meeting on AMR (HLM) going ahead this Thursday 26 September 2024. The meeting will consider a political declaration that charts a path forward for global action on AMR. The entire week is jam-packed with satellite meetings and side events that will bring together global leaders in AMR to strengthen connections and help the world collaborate to drive action and change.

MTPConnect’s AMR initiative, the Australian Antimicrobial Resistance Network (AAMRNet) has an ambitious policy agenda including advocating for establishing an AMR-focused accelerator in Australia to support innovation and implementing a subscription fund for novel antimicrobials to ensure Australians have access to the latest and most effective life-saving antibiotics. These issues are front and centre in New York.

After getting off the plane, it was straight down to business with the first event on Sunday 22 September at the Harvard Club. The event, Ensuring Sustainable Access to Effective Antibiotics: The path from UNGA to Impact, featured panel sessions and a terrific fireside chat between the Prime Minister of Barbados and Chair of the Global Leaders Group on AMR, Hon. Mia Amor Mottley, and One Health Trust President, Dr Ramanan Laxminarayan, on the political declaration on AMR and path forward.

The event was also a great opportunity to catch up with some familiar faces from CARB-X, the AMR Action Fund and ARMoR, and it was particularly exciting to meet for the first time two global super stars of AMR, the UK special envoy Dame Sally Davies and advocate, clinician and drug developer Dr John Rex.

UNGA brings with it road closures, increased security and traffic chaos, meaning the shoe leather gets a significant workout as walking becomes the best way to get around from event to event. That was certainly the case on Monday, which started with a catchup with Australia’s Chief Medical Officer Professor Paul Kelly and officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade at the Little Collins cafe near UN headquarters. It’s hard to get a good coffee in the US so it was great to get a proper Aussie flat white. And a shout-out to DFAT for their amazing work in securing a UN pass for me to attend the big HLM on Thursday.

A walk across town to Hudson Yards followed to meet with Natalie Fitzpatrick, Senior Director Global Markets and Operations, Global Policy and Public Affairs at Pfizer. Natalie previously looked after strategic policy for Pfizer ANZ in Sydney before moving to NYC and we worked closely on many policy issues for the pharmaceutical sector, so it was amazing to catch up.

Another walk back to midtown followed to attend the Pandemic Action Network networking event. UNGA is not just about AMR so it was brilliant to meet stakeholders representing a broader range of global health policy areas and others from Australia including Dr Bronwyn King, founder and CEO at Tobacco Free Portfolios. It was also the first of what I’m sure will be many opportunities to catch-up with CSIRO Minimising AMR Mission Lead and AAMRNet Steering Committee member, Dr Branwen Morgan.

The events continue on Tuesday with AMR focused events hosted by Devex in partnership with GSK and Amref Health Africa and the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations networking reception on global health collaborations.

It is a privilege to be here for the week representing MTPConnect and AAMRNet and be part of such a significant milestone in global AMR policy.

MTPConnect's Director Stakeholder Engagement Queensland Andrew Bowskill is co-chair of AARMNet and has travelled to New York for the UNGA High Level Meeting on AMR