Combining the fight against Antimicrobial Resistance with access to medicines: The Case of the African Region
Professor Smail Mesbah, Director General of Prevention and Promotion of Health, Ministry of Health, Algeria Today, two billion men, women and children, mostly from developing countries and the African region in particular, suffer from lack of access to essential medicines. Today, the growing threat of developing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the areas of human, animal health and agriculture no longer spares developing countries, including those in the African region. These are two major issues, also ones of human rights and dignity, that particularly affect developing countries, including Africa. These are also complex issues of multiple dimensions, linked in particular in our countries to intellectual property laws, lack of financial resources, weak health systems and inequalities which are aggravating factors. These issues, which provide so many challenges for the international community, call, more than ever before, for an urgent and concerted response at the local, national, regional and international levels. First of all, this response requires that access to medicines is a fundamental obligation based on the primacy of human rights in relation to international trade. Therefore, medicines must be economically affordable, acceptable, accessible, good quality and made available without discrimination. In this regard, any pressure to prevent the use of TRIPS flexibilities or to impose TRIPS-plus provisions in trade agreements should be seen as an infringement of human rights. This response also requires measuring the threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR)...
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