National action plans

In May 2015, the Sixty-eighth World Health Assembly adopted the Global action plan on antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The goal of the Global action plan is to ensure, for as long as possible, continuity of successful treatment and prevention of infectious diseases with effective and safe medicines that are quality-assured, used in a responsible way and accessible to all who need them.

The World Health Assembly also urged all Member States to develop and have in place by 2017 a national action plan on AMR that is aligned with the objectives of the Global action plan.

In collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), WHO developed a manual to assist countries in preparing or refining their national action plans. The manual aims to facilitate the participation of all relevant sectors, and outlines an incremental approach that can be adapted by countries to their specific needs, circumstances and available resources. It will likely be adapted and further developed in the near future to reflect the experience of countries in preparing their national action plans and to better serve their needs.

A number of supporting documents and tools were also developed to accompany the manual, and can be downloaded and adapted for use by countries. Additional tools will be made available in due course.

Finally, WHO compiled a library of existing, publicly available national action plans on AMR which countries can consult. This library will be updated regularly as new information becomes available on national action plans and as new plans are published. WHO welcomes any additional information of relevance to existing and newly developed national action plans.