[Please check against delivery]
Good afternoon!
Let me begin by thanking the Medical Services Administration for organizing this important conference and commemoration of World AMR Awareness Week.
The World Health Organization has declared AMR as one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity. It threatens to reverse decades of medical progress, by making common infections deadly once again.
We estimate that AMR causes at least 1.3 million deaths around the world every year, with huge associated costs for both health systems and economies.
[For me, this issue is also personal. One of my five-year-old twin daughters has now experienced several serious antibiotic-resistant infections in her short life, including one over the last few weeks. So, I speak from my own experience when I say that I understand the fear, anxiety and stress of families going through the experience of a loved one being affected by a common infection which is more complex to treat than it should be.]
As for almost every other country around the world, the scale of both the challenge and the impact of AMR in Viet Nam is significant.
But the good news is that some important progress has been made in the last few years to strengthen its efforts to tackle the problem, including:
Having our host, the Medical Services Administration (MSA) designated as the National Coordinating Centre – recognizing the importance of coordination in tackling such a complex policy issue;
Strengthening of the national surveillance system, including through the establishment of three national reference laboratories and AMR surveillance sites in 57 hospitals across the country. This is fundamentally important, because you can’t see – or stop – what you don’t measure; and
Development of the new National Action Plan for AMR (2026–2030) which will be launched today – a very welcome and significant step forward.
So, some important progress to date, but in Viet Nam as for every country, as we all know, there is a great deal more to be done.
One of the key priorities for future action is to strengthen the ‘multisectoral’ approach to AMR – because AMR is an issue which no one organization, and no single sector, can solve alone.
Multisectoral-ism is easy to say, but harder to do. This is why I am very pleased to see such a range of organizations and sectors represented in this room today, as well as the commitment to the establishment of an intersectoral steering committee on AMR in the new National Action Plan.
Looking ahead, WHO is of course absolutely committed to continue working closely with the Government of Viet Nam – and other partners – in this crucially important work, in any way we can.
This week, we will be supporting MSA to conduct an AMR outbreak investigation training workshop – training multidisciplinary hospital teams (IPC, laboratory, clinicians, epidemiologists and administrators) to help ensure comprehensive response capacity to any outbreaks caused by antimicrobial resistant pathogens in hospitals.
I want to close with a quote from WHO’s Director General Dr Tedros. He perfectly sums up just how high the stakes are on this issue: “Without effective antibiotics, we risk losing the gains of modern medicine. We owe it to future generations to preserve this precious gift.”
So, while the road ahead is challenging, the path is clear. For my children, for your children and grandchildren, and for all of humanity, we need to work in unity, and with determination, innovation, and a deep sense of urgency, to slow the spread of AMR and protect the lifesaving power of one of modern medicine’s greatest gifts.
Thank you / Xin cảm ơn!