Chris Fearne has been appointed the vice-chair of the Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance.
The Maltese health minister was nominated by the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Amor Mottley, who is also co-chair of the group. Fearne first joined the group as a member in 2020.
He will serve as its vice-chair for a two-year term.
The group, informally referred to as the GLG, advises international organisations on antimicrobial resistance and seeks to encourage political action to limit it.
Misuse and overuse of antibiotics has led to the development of drug-resistant pathogens – a major threat that the WHO has declared is one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity.
The GLG is composed of heads of state, current and former ministers and senior government officials acting in their individual capacities, together with senior representatives of foundations, civil society organizations and the private sector.
It also includes leaders of four major international organisations: the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). They serve in an ex-ufficio capacity.
In her letter to Fearne, Mottley noted that Fearne had played a key role in developing and implementing a GLG action plan which has prompted the UN General Assembly to call a high-level meeting concerning antimicrobial resistance in 2024.
She also thanked the Maltese minister for his role in facilitating high-level GLG events at the UN General Assembly and Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
Fearne will attend his first GLG event as the group’s vice-chair next week, when he will speak during the opening session of a high-level conference being hosted in Oman.
Malta struggles with relatively high levels of antimicrobial resistance – a problem registered across all Mediterranean countries – in large part due to the incorrect use or prescription of antibiotics.
While the non-prescribed use of antibiotics has been reduced dramatically over the past 20 years, antibiotics are still incorrectly prescribed in several instances.
According to a 2019 ECDC report, up to 35 Maltese people die every year due to antimicrobial-resistant pathogens.
Antimicrobial resistance also impacts the animal health sector, with animals also susceptible to drug-resistant bugs. Data suggests antimicrobial resistance within the local livestock sector is in line with the EU average.
Malta introduced an eight-year strategy to combat antimicrobial resistance in 2020.