Dr. Yusuf A. Sucol (Project Leader) and Hannah Agatha D. Millares, university researcher, both representatives of the 1HEALTH Project, emerged as the overall winners in the poster presentation competition during the Philippine Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR)  Awareness Week (PAAW) 2023 on November 24, 2023, at the Eastwood Richmonde Hotel, Quezon City. 

The winning 1HEALTH AMR poster bested 38 posters exhibited by the ICAMR member agencies – DOH, DA, DOST, DILG, DENR, DTI, TESDA, CHED, DepEd – and from participating higher education institutions. 

Dr. Sucol and Millares presented a research paper titled, “AMR and One Health: An Analysis of the Philippines’ Current Actions to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance.” Their topic aligns with this year’s conference theme, “Sama-samang Magtulungan para Antimicrobial Resistance ay Mapigilan.” 

Their study analyzed the current Philippine government’s progress and directions to manage AMR as laid out in the Philippine National Action Plan to Combat Antimicrobial Resistance (PNAP-AMR) 2019-2023 and to provide insights into the adoption of the One Health approach in AMR interventions. The study employed the 2018 UN Food and Agriculture (FAO) Antimicrobial Resistance Policy Review and Development Framework (FAO-ARPRDF) after a systematic scoping and inventory of AMR policies, plans, and literature. This included a comprehensive policy review, timeline analysis, and institutional and stakeholders’ SWOT analysis. 

Notably, this research paper was co-authored by the 1HEALTH Project – AMR Component team under the School of Environmental Science and Management (SESAM): Dr. Alma Lorelei DJ. Abejero, Catherine B. Gigantone, Idel Angelie R. Malate, and Dr. Rico C. Ancog, dean of SESAM.

PAAW 2023 was hosted by the Inter-Agency Committee on Antimicrobial Resistance (ICAMR) which is chaired by the Department of Health (DOH) and this year’s lead organizer. It was held in solidarity with World Antimicrobial Resistance Week (WAAW) 2023, a global campaign that aims to raise awareness and understanding of AMR and promote best practices among One Health stakeholders to reduce the emergence and spread of drug-resistant infections. WAAW and PAAW are celebrated from 18-24 November every year. This is a joint program of the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), also dubbed the “silent pandemic”, is a phenomenon wherein bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites no longer respond to antimicrobial agents. As a result of drug resistance, antibiotics, and other antimicrobial agents become ineffective and, consequently, infections become difficult or impossible to treat. Thus, AMR increases the risk of the spread of disease, severe illnesses, and death. The 1HEALTH Project, or the “Country Research Update and Policy Support to the Philippines’ National Surveillance and Control Programs for African Swine Fever (ASF), Avian Influenza (AI) and Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR): A One Health Systems Approach to Food Animal Security, Public Health Resiliency and Environmental Sustainability” project, is a three-year project currently implemented by SESAM-UPLB. It is one of the four inaugural projects jointly funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and the Canadian International Development Research Centre (IDRC) under the ACIAR-IDRC Research Programme on One Health (AIRPOH) in Southeast Asia. The project advocates for the holistic and efficient management of ASF, AI, and AMR through multi-sectoral partnerships and interventions targeted at safeguarding human, animal, and environmental health. 1HEALTH stands for “One Human-Environment-Animal Linkage for Total Health.” (Christine Mae B. Santos, Hannah Agatha D. Millares)