Berlin
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Minister,
Excellencies
Ladies and gentlemen,
I’m very glad to be able to say a few words to you today.
Twenty days ago, the Swiss President, Johann Schneider-Ammann, spoke at the High-Level Meeting on AMR in New York.
In his address he stated that antimicrobial resistance currently poses one of the greatest global threats to public health, one that desperately needs to be addressed.
In my opinion there is an undeniable and urgent need for action on the part of all UN member states – from all of us here.
In Switzerland, the fight against antimicrobial resistance is at the top of the political agenda.
Last November, the Federal Council adopted a national strategy that is fully in line with the WHO’s global action plan.
The strategy is built around the One Health approach, which focuses on both human and animal health.
The strategy also addresses agriculture and environmental issues, areas where the need for action is equally great.
We are also promoting the Swiss One Health approach at the international level.
In May 2015, Switzerland supported the adoption of the Global Action Plan to combat AMR.
It was developed by the World Health Organization in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Organisation for Animal Health.
For Switzerland it is equally important that all public and private stakeholders invest more in the research and development of new antimicrobials and diagnostic tools.
This is something that has been neglected for too long – partly due to market failures.
This led to a very weak pipeline of new antimicrobials, especially antibiotics.
R&D funding therefore needs to be increased and efforts intensified.
The private sector must also play its part. It must share the responsibility and join the global fight against AMR. Fortunately there are encouraging signs in that regard:
Last January, the pharmaceutical, biotechnology and diagnostics industries launched the Declaration on Combating AMR at the Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos.
Public-private partnerships must also play an important role:
My country has just contributed to the implementation of the Global Antibiotic Research and Development partnership (GARD) launched by the DNDi Foundation.
In addition, in order to promote research in this area, Switzerland approved a twenty million national research programme on AMR last year.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In New York, we generated strong momentum at the highest level and raised public awareness about the risks associated with AMR.
This must now be translated into tangible results.
If we do not act together, we risk returning to the bleak times before the discovery of penicillin in 1928 when people died of simple infections. This has to be prevented at all costs!
To fulfil our goal, there is an imperative change:
In the past, major advances in our world were often the product of outstanding individuals:
Gutenberg’s movable-type printing presses democratized the distribution of knowledge.
Fleming’s discovery of penicillin transformed healthcare.
Now and in the future, it is teams and groups of people who will pioneer major advances in our society.
Transforming our world and addressing the threat of AMR will depend on our capacity to create new alliances and to overcome information silo mentalities by sharing expertise – especially intellectual contributions – from diverse sources.
Our efforts will be in vain, if we work in isolation.
Innovations in antimicrobial drug research and development will only come about if we combine our efforts and resources for this cause.
I applaud my colleague Hermann Gröhe for convening this meeting of the Global Expert Network and for bringing you all to Berlin.
There is urgent need for action.
I hope that your discussions are fruitful and productive and that they lead to new breakthroughs in AMR research & development.
Thank you.