Engaging youth in tackling antimicrobial resistance to protect health and food security

Shobha Shukla *

Youth are critical change-makers not only as future prescribers and users of antimicrobials but also as influencers of the behaviour of their peers, parents and community. Strengthening youth engagement in our response to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) can go a long way in addressing this global threat that is directly responsible for 1.27 million deaths and contributes to nearly 5 million deaths per year, apart from causing a loss of USD 3.4 trillion annually to global economy.

It is imperative to harness youth energy by equipping them with the knowledge and tools needed to take impactful actions to tackle AMR. Keeping this in mind the Quadripartite Joint Secretariat on AMR (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations - FAO, the United Nations Environment Programme - UNEP, the World Health Organization - WHO, and the World Organisation for Animal Health - WOAH) - have jointly developed an "AMR toolkit for youth engagement," that was launched earlier this month in three languages (English, French and Spanish).

Mimi Melles-Brewer from the WHO AMR Awareness, Campaign and Advocacy Unit said that the overarching goal of the toolkit is to strengthen youth engagement in AMR related activities. Its set of 11 tools provide actionable guidance to equip youth-led networks and youth-serving organisations with the resources to engage young people meaningfully in AMR communication, education, and campaigns.

Lucia Escati, Communications Officer, WOAH reminded us that 2024 has been an important year to raise awareness on AMR as it was addressed in two very high-level political events:

(i) in September the 2nd UNHLM on AMR was held in New York where world leaders adopted the political declaration committing to a clear set of targets and actions, including reducing the estimated 4.95 million human deaths associated with bacterial AMR by 10% by 2030;

(ii) in November the 4th Global High-Level Ministerial Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance was held in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The Jeddah Commitments adopted at the meeting underscore the need for coordinated efforts to address human, animal, plant, and environmental health to combat AMR. They also stress the importance of implementing primary secondary and tertiary education programmes that strengthen the prevention component of AMR response.

These meetings, along with the World AMR Awareness Week (held every year 18 to 24 November) campaigns show that there is political will and commitment to tackle AMR. They also recognize the importance of youth engagement and AMR education at all levels of the AMR response.

The energy, creativity and commitment of young people make them indispensable in transferring the commitments (made at high-level meetings) into tangible actions on the ground. By empowering young leaders we can amplify solutions that address not only AMR but also the roots causes of inequity and environment degradation, believes Wenjing Yan, Communications Consultant at UNEP.

Ways to enhance youth engagement?

Jessica Mitchell from University of Edinburgh & CE4AMR (community engagement for AMR) Network, thinks that young people should not be just the end users of the information we create. They should be genuinely engaged as researchers, instead of merely being the targets of research.

"We need to look at more equitable ways of involving young people in the research ecosystem. A lot of the youth focussed work on AMR is very human health centric and agriculture centric. We have to engage youth who are engaged in other One Health sectors and make space for diverse people, such as medics, pharmacists, veterinarians - to hold the floor in AMR discussions," she said.

Randa Bazzi, a member of One Health Alliance of Jordan and Quadripartite Working Group on Youth Engagement for AMR, opts for using non-traditional methods to empower youth for addressing antimicrobial resistance, climate change, food security, and other One Health related challenges. Her organisation inspires young people to become advocates for AMR solutions by conducting workshops on meat hygiene and zoonotic diseases; or holding youth events and contests that feature role playing exercises, and/or creative works of art and photography to express their understanding of AMR and enhance youth engagement by sharing ideas, building networks and driving collective action.

The Commonwealth Youth Health Network (CYHN) has been working with both young people and youth led organisations across 56 commonwealth countries - from big countries like Nigeria to small island developing countries in the Pacific - to help them advance AMR action.

Lucy Fagan, Chair of CYHN said they work with young people at the forefront of local education initiatives and grassroots campaigns, as well as with broader multi-sectoral youth organisations- like National Youth Councils and student organisations- to help equip them with the knowledge and skills they need to understand and also advocate for multi-sectoral AMR action plans in their countries.

Her organisation aims to recruit their first cohort of Commonwealth Youth AMR Champions from every region, as well as dedicated youth champions from small island developing countries. They will work with youth-led organisations in their region to begin implementing AMR projects using the toolkit. They are also exploring the possibility of a seed grant programme to put money into the hands of young people and youth led organisations to support them in designing and implementing AMR actions using the toolkit as their guide.

Fagan wants the youth to be given the agency and power to be part of AMR related projects from the beginning (and not in the end)- from designing to implementation to measuring impact of any project. There should also be some sustainable flexible funding for them to implement their plans.

Nahashon Gicheru, a public health specialist from Nigeria and member of the Quadripartite Working Group on Youth Engagement for AMR, wants policy makers to consult young people during the development, implementation, monitoring, reporting and evaluating of AMR policies and action plans, as youth have first hand experiences on issues related to AMR and have a deep reach in society to achieve the whole of society approach to efficiently contain AMR. And one unique advantage on top of all that is that they are able to reach to this very large group of population (Note: More than 50% of the global population is under 30) who will face the impacts of AMR in the future.

Yerkem Sembayeva, Communications Officer at FAO, says that the quadripartite partners are committed to supporting youth-led actions, creating enabling environments for their ideas to flourish and ensuring that their perspectives are integrated into the One Health responses to AMR.

"By working together across sectors, generations and borders, we can build a stronger and more holistic approach to tackling AMR. By leveraging the energy and creativity of young people we can extend the reach of AMR awareness campaign, foster innovative solutions and ensure that the fight against AMR is inclusive and impactful."

Our future is in the hands of youth and they have to be engaged proactively to make it a healthy one.