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ONE health approach, MULTIPLE answers:
Citizens’ engagement & stakeholders' actions
to tackle antimicrobial resistance and sustain EU progress 

 DIGITAL CONFERENCE
18th November 2020 - 17:00-19:00
19th November 2020 - 15:30-17:30

The XIV European Patients’ Rights Day (EPRD) has been celebrated by Active Citizenship Network (ACN) with a virtual multi-stakeholder conference which, this year, focuses on the topic of the fight to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and the importance of the citizens’ engagement for a multi stakeholder action.

In 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) named AMR in the 10 most urgent threats that will demand attention from WHO and health partners. In many parts of the world, in fact, AMR has reached alarming levels and already presents a serious social and economic burden. It is estimated to be responsible for 25,000 deaths per year in the EU alone and 700,000 deaths per year globally: AMR might cause more deaths than cancer by 2050.

Apart from the human suffering caused by this development, AMR also pushes up the cost of treatment and diminishes the productivity of the workforce due to illnesses. In the EU it is estimated that AMR costs 1.5 billion euros annually in healthcare costs and productivity losses, having a negative impact on the economy and being a threat to economic growth, to sustainable healthcare and to a productive and healthy population. Paradoxically, the ways we treat illnesses right now will jeopardize our health in the long run.

Different European and national healthcare stakeholders are working on this increasing problem. 

In particular, the European Commission is facing the issue with the Joint Action on Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare-Associated Infections (EU-JAMRAI) whose aim is to improve coordination among national health ministries and other key stakeholders, through the One Health approach. 

Against this background, there exists a huge discrepancy between the severity of the situation and the low level of awareness of European citizens.

17 organisations active in human and animal health (including Active Citizenship Network) have sent an open letter to the Members of the European Parliament, urging them to bring antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to the forefront of EU inter-institutional discussions and to support the establishment of a dedicated AMR parliamentary group.

Considering that this phenomenon causes more deaths than car accidents, why are most people unaware aware of it? What has been done after the Davos Declaration of 2016 in which more than 100 companies and trade associations drafted the “Industry Roadmap for Progress on Combating Antimicrobial Resistance? Which role has been reserved to citizen and actors involved in the health chain? What are we doing to improve the behaviour and awareness of citizens? How will this issue be included in the European political agenda for the coming years? Can we favour better cooperation among the actors involved in order to guarantee a higher citizens & patients’ safety (as stated in the 9th right established in the EU Charter of Patients’ Rights) and face the significant implications for the expenditures of healthcare?

The Uppsala University called it the “the Silent Tsunami”; has the countdown already started? How do we stop it?

The XIV European Patients' Rights Day has been a multi-stakeholder debate, starting from concrete examples and experiences coming from different countries, involving the point of view of patient and civic associations, EU Institutions and experts, health professionals, public and private bodies.

In line with the topic of healthcare systems’ sustainability, addressed in the previous conferences of the European Patients’ Rights Day (here there are some examples of the celebrations in 2017, 2018 & 2019), the fourteenth edition continued to contribute to the policy debate on how to achieve a more sustainable healthcare framework. 

The event provided a civic perspective, putting and recognizing the citizens at the center of health policies, not only as “users or consumers” of health services or “patients” with a specific disease, but rather as active citizens participating in healthcare policymaking as essential stakeholders.

To know more about our commitment on the topic, please visit our webpage: “Our policy on patient safety: focus on Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs) and Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)”.

Click here to read the Conference’s programme

Click here to read the speakers’ biographies

Click here to read the press release

 

To know more:

 

The Conference has benn kindly hosted by MEP Brando Benifei, S&D group image002

With the scientific support of:

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Media Partners:

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The conference has been realized thanks to the support of:

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For further information please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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