Stepping up EU actions to combat antimicrobial resistance in a One Health approach 2023/C 220/01

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1.

Current status

This recommendation has been published on June 22, 2023.

2.

Key information

official title

Council Recommendation on stepping up EU actions to combat antimicrobial resistance in a One Health approach 2023/C 220/01
 
Legal instrument Recommendation
Regdoc number ST(2023)9581
Original proposal XC(2017)701
CELEX number i 32023H0622(01)

3.

Key dates

Document 13-06-2023; Date of adoption
Publication in Official Journal 22-06-2023; OJ C 220 p. 1-20
Deadline 13-06-2027; See Pt 47

4.

Legislative text

22.6.2023   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 220/1

 

COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION

on stepping up EU actions to combat antimicrobial resistance in a One Health approach

(2023/C 220/01)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 168(6) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Whereas:

 

(1)

In July 2022, the Commission, together with the Member States, identified antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as one of the top three priority health threats (1). It is estimated that more than 35 000 people die each year in the EU/EEA as a direct consequence of an infection due to bacteria resistant to antibiotics (2). The health impact of AMR is comparable to that of influenza, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS combined. Overall, the latest data (3) show significantly increasing trends in the number of infections and attributable deaths for almost all bacterium–antibiotic resistance combinations, especially in healthcare settings. It is estimated that around 70 % of cases of infections with antibiotic-resistant bacteria were healthcare-associated infections. Furthermore, the health impact of fungicide-resistant fungi has become more apparent over the years.

 

(2)

AMR has serious human health and economic consequences for healthcare systems. By reducing the ability to prevent and treat infectious diseases, AMR threatens inter alia the ability to perform surgery, the treatment of immunocompromised patients, organ transplantation and cancer therapy. It results in high costs to the healthcare systems of EU/EEA countries (4). AMR is also a threat to food safety and food security as it has an impact on animal health and production systems.

 

(3)

AMR is a One Health issue, meaning that it encompasses human health, animal health, plant health and the environment, and is a multi-faceted cross-border threat to health that cannot be tackled by one sector independently or by individual countries alone. Tackling AMR requires a high level of collaboration across sectors and between countries, including at global level.

 

(4)

The Commission’s Communication of 29 June 2017‘A European One Health Action Plan against AMR’ (the ’2017 AMR Action Plan’) (5) outlines over 70 actions covering human health, animal health and the environment, whose progress has been regularly monitored (6). However, further action is needed, in particular in the areas of human health and the environment, which requires the Commission and Member States to give more attention to these areas for instance through this Recommendation. The Council conclusions of 14 June 2019 on the next steps towards making the EU a best practice region in combating antimicrobial resistance (7) and the Council conclusions of 7 December 2021 on strengthening the European Health Union (8) contribute to the work against AMR in that respect.

 

(5)

The EU4Health Programme (9) offers a sizeable investment in combating AMR, in particular through direct grants to Member State authorities for the implementation of AMR measures, amongst others supporting Member States in the implementation of One Health AMR National Action Plans, infection prevention and control of both community-acquired and healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial stewardship strategies. This should serve to support the follow-up of this Council Recommendation across Member States. The Horizon Europe programme (10) will provide support to research and innovation actions and a partnership on One Health AMR (11), while financing from the European Investment Bank (12) and assistance under the Technical Support Instrument (13) could provide additional support to the implementation of this Council Recommendation.

 

(6)

One Health AMR National Action Plans are...


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This text has been adopted from EUR-Lex.

5.

Original proposal

 

6.

Sources and disclaimer

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