Remarks by Secretary Xavier Becerra at the 2024 UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance

On September 26, 2024, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra joined leaders from across the world in New York, NY for the 2024 UN General Assembly.

Below are Secretary Becerra’s remarks, as prepared and delivered at the High-Level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance.

Deputy Secretary General, President of the General Assembly, and esteemed colleagues.

It is my honor to join you, on behalf of the United States of America, to advance shared action on antimicrobial resistance (AMR). And I want to thank and acknowledge Malta and Barbados for their outstanding leadership on AMR.

AMR’s danger to humans is real and urgent. A new study estimates that 39 million people could die from anti-biotic resistance in the next 25 years The interconnectedness between the health of people, animals, plants, and the environment demand that we tackle this threat aggressively, equitably, and sustainably.

In the U.S., we have been united by our National Strategy for Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria. It promotes a One Health, whole-of-government, and whole-of-society approach. Thanks to the UN Political Declaration commitments we are working more closely with other nations on solutions that benefit everyone.

No single country, organization, or sector can solve AMR. We must do this together. And, everyone must do more.

Here in the United States, we invest a billion dollars a year, at home and abroad, to prevent infections and detect and respond to AMR. But it will take all of us to recapture and surpass the gains made before the COVID-19 pandemic and stay ahead of AMR’s dangers. We must improve our systems and ensure access to quality diagnostics and appropriate treatments for everyone. Conventional efforts to identify and develop new antibiotics are too slow, so we must also move more quickly to innovate and improve tools to mitigate future potential dangers.

With that in mind, today I am pleased to announce the launch of a new project – known as TARGET. Our Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) will invest $27 million in TARGET to bring together experts across Artificial Intelligence, antimicrobial discovery, and clinical testing to accelerate the discovery and development of new antibiotics to address antibiotic resistance. This project will once again utilize cutting-edge American technology and ingenuity to deliver global health solutions.

President Biden and Vice President Harris have long supported efforts, here and around the world, to strengthen capacity to prevent the emergence, spread, and impact of AMR. And that will continue for as long as necessary.

In addressing AMR, each of us has a role to play. No one country can do this alone. But together we will succeed.