The Commission is organising the first of a series of regional workshops on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) from 5-8 February in Cape Town, South Africa. Fifty representatives from Ministries of Health and Agriculture from nine countries (Botswana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe) will follow a training session of four days. In addition, the competent authorities from the Department of Health and Agriculture of South Africa, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the EU Delegation to South Africa and DG Health and Food Safety will participate.

The purpose of the training will be to provide support on strategies and actions promoting and strengthening the prudent use of antimicrobials and monitoring resistance in veterinary, food safety and public health sectors, to reinforce engagement with international organisations, and intensify cooperation with the invited countries. The workshop aims to help the participants to address AMR in their own countries, thus benefitting the whole region. 

This is the first of  a series of 11 regional workshops that will be carried out in 2019 and 2020 in Africa (South Africa, Ethiopia and Jordan), Latin America (Argentina and Costa Rica), Asia (India, Indonesia, and China), and Europe (Ukraine and Montenegro) under the Better Training for Safer Food (BTSF) initiative. The project plans to reach 500 participants from 86 countries.

Background:

In 2017, the EU launched its second action plan against AMR. It includes measures to work towards reinforcing engagement and collaboration with international organisations and to intensify cooperation with the most affected developing countries, building on existing relationships and facilitating policy dialogue to further raise awareness about the AMR threat and ways to best address it.

For more information:

• EU action on Better Training for Safer Food (BTSF)
• EU action on Antimicrobial Resistance