The head of the interim Australian Centre for Disease Control (CDC), Professor Paul Kelly has addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Professor Kelly spoke about antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
The General Assembly is the United Nation’s main decision-making body and Professor Kelly represented Australia as our Chief Medical Officer. He delivered a statement for Australia, New Zealand and Canada.
AMR occurs when infection-causing germs become resistant to medicines, such as antibiotics.
‘Widespread AMR, were it to occur, would present an existential threat to the health of the global population,’ Professor Kelly told the United Nations.
If this occurred, doctors may no longer be able to perform common procedures. These could include:
- cancer treatments
- joint replacements
- organ transplants.
‘Medical advances built up over the past couple of centuries could be lost due to our complacency. And the march of evolution,’ Professor Kelly said.
Inaction could mean future generations might look back at the loss of medical advances and trace it back to today’s society.
‘To prevent this, we must take decisive action now – to save lives,’ Professor Kelly said.
We work with other agencies to take action under the National AMR Strategy, using a One Health approach.
Last week’s meeting was the United Nations General Assembly’s second high-level meeting focused on AMR. Leaders approved a political declaration that set out targets and actions to address AMR.