Kuwait affirms cooperation with UN organizations to fight AMR
Kuwaiti Health Minister Dr. Ahmad Al-Awadhi affirmed Saturday his country’s keenness to enhance cooperation with UN Organizations, international and regional partners, private sector and civil society to actively fight antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
This came in Al-Awadhi’s speech in the fourth high-level global ministerial conference on antimicrobial resistance (AMR), launched in Jeddah on Friday.
Kuwait has taken steps to increase training programs for healthcare providers to encourage the responsible use of antibiotics, increase research and development in this field, and spread awareness of antibiotic resistance, Al-Awadhi added, in an effort to achieve a positive sustainable change in societal behavior.
He stated that Kuwait is moving steadily towards achieving the global goals for which the year 2030 has been set as a timeframe, including increasing the use of antibiotics rate to 70 percent and reducing deaths associated with antimicrobial resistance by 10 percent, and reduce the use of antibiotics in the animal and agricultural sectors. Al-Awadhi affirmed full support for “Jeddah Declaration” issued from this conference, held under the slogan (From Declaration to Implementation), which reflects the collective commitment to address antimicrobial resistance and the threat it represents to global progress achieved in the public health field.
The Minister noted committing to the Political Declaration on AMR issued by the UN high-level meeting on antimicrobial resistance, stressing that Kuwait is taking strategic and coordinated steps based on the “One Health” approach, noting it imposed strict restrictions on antibiotics use without a prescription.
He pointed out that Kuwait has achieved remarkable progress in the WHO Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS), and has also enhanced its performance in the AWARE system for classifying antibiotics according to their priorities of use.
The Kuwaiti delegation to the conference included, in addition to Minister Al-Awadi, Assistant Undersecretary for Public Health Dr. Munther Al-Hasawi, Director of the Minister’s Office Dr. Dhari Al-Hashash, Minister’s Office Supervisor Dr. Abdul Latif Jamal, Head of Antimicrobial Resistance Unit Dr. Hussein Al-Shammari, acting Charge d’Affaires of Kuwaiti Consulate in Jeddah Minister Plenipotentiary Nasser Al-Khaldi.
The two-day high-level conference was attended by over 40 ministers from health, environment, and agriculture sectors from various countries, in addition to several heads of international organizations and non-governmental organizations.
Source: KUNA
