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One Health Day and World AMR Awareness Week Calls for Education, Advocacy, and Action
November 15, 2024
One Health Day, celebrated annually on November 3, answers the urgent need for a One Health trans-disciplinary approach towards solving today’s critical global health challenges. It is a timely initiative that gives scientists and advocates a powerful voice for moving beyond current provincial approaches to emerging infectious diseases, antimicrobial resistance, climate change, environmental pollution, and many other problems, to a holistic default way of working together.
World AMR Awareness Week (WAAW), celebrated from November 18 to 24 every year, is a global campaign to raise awareness and understanding of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and promote best practices among One Health stakeholders to reduce the emergence and spread of drug-resistant infections. This year’s theme, Educate. Advocate. Act now, was chosen based on feedback from global stakeholders from human, animal, plant, and environmental health sectors.
AMR is a pressing global health and socioeconomic crisis. It has significant impacts on human and animal health, food production, and the environment. Drug-resistant-pathogens pose a threat to everyone, everywhere. Yet, much more can be done to raise public and stakeholder awareness. Therefore, this year’s theme calls on the global community to educate stakeholders about AMR, advocate for bold commitments, and take concrete actions in response to AMR. The 2024 UNGA High-level Meeting on AMR and the fourth Global High-Level Ministerial Conference on AMR, for instance, provide a critical window of opportunity for political and financial commitments as well as increased accountability in response to AMR. Stronger political leadership, advocacy, and accountability are needed at all levels and the time to act is now.
The Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) strongly supports veterinarian involvement in One Health as veterinarians play a vital role in improving the health and welfare of the animals in their care in a manner that also protects and supports human health and a healthy environment. The One Health approach is particularly relevant to the development of collaborative strategies for responsible antimicrobial use which supports the control of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Visit savi.canadianveterinarians.net for more information about the CVMA’s AMR work and to access the CVMA Veterinary Guidelines for Antimicrobial Use.