Botswana calls for combating antimicrobial resistance.

   GABORONE, April 6-- Botswanan Agriculture Minister Fidelis Molao said on Thursday that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses an existential threat to developing countries such as Botswana, where the health infrastructure is already strained.
   The minister made the remarks at the 100th Centenary Conference of the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) in Gaborone, the capital of Botswana.
   He said available resources severely limit medical options, creating a thriving environment for false and substandard products, which are drivers of AMR.
   He stressed that a global effort to address AMR under the watchful eyes of institutions such as the World Health Organization (WHO), WOAH, and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) should be prioritized.
   "In particular the development and implementation of National Action Plans for AMR based on the whole of government, whole of society philosophy," said Molao.
   He said that the One Health strategy to addressing global public health concerns such as AMR and zoonotic diseases is gaining traction in Africa, with several nations already having national action plans. He emphasized the significant hurdles of institutionalizing and operationalizing One Health, particularly funding and coordinating strategic initiatives and duties.
   Berhanu Bedane, representing the quadripartite organization made up of the FAO, United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), WHO, WOAH, noted that the multi-sectoral collaboration under the One Health approach has gained momentum.
   With the awareness that human health, animal health and the environment are all interconnected, the tripartite has expanded to include the UNEP. The signature of a Memorandum of Understanding in March 2022 marked the formation of the quadripartite, said 
Bedane.  

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