Egypt calls for reducing antimicrobials in agrifood system by up to 59% by 2030

CAIRO – 26 November 2022: Egypt’s Minister of Health Khaled Abdel Ghaffar has stressed the need to reduce the total amount of antimicrobials used in the agricultural food system by 39-59 percent from the current level by 2030.

Abdel Ghaffar made the remarks during his participation in the closing session of the 3rd High-level Ministerial Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) held in Oman on 24-25 November.

During his participation, Abdel Ghaffar stressed Egypt’s support to the efforts aiming at combating antimicrobials in a way that comes in line with the “One Health” strategy.

Despite the fact that antimicrobial, including antibiotics, have protected human beings against harmful microorganisms for decades, misuse and overuse of antimicrobials have caused drug-resistant pathogens to develop.

Antimicrobial resistance, which is accelerated by the misuse of antibiotics, is a deadly health threat that killed at least 1.27 million people worldwide in 2019, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

 

Abdel Ghaffar affirmed the Egyptian state's support for the Muscat Ministerial Manifesto to combat and resist antimicrobials and their negative impact on human health and the environment by mobilizing efforts from all relevant organizations and stakeholders around the world.

The minister also affirmed the Egyptian state's support for Saudi Arabia’s request to host the fourth ministerial conference on antimicrobial resistance in Riyadh next year.

According to Omani reports, the manifesto has stressed on the three global targets regarding antimicrobials, including the need to reduce the antimicrobials used in agricultural food systems by 30-50 percent by 2030.

The manifesto also affirmed the need to end the use of medically important microbials in promoting growth of animals and ensuring that the “Access” group antibiotics represent at least 60 percent of the total consumption of antibiotics by 2030.