Hon. Qereqeretabua represents Fiji at the high level meeting on AMR

The Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs, Hon. Lenora Qereqeretabua attended the High Level Meeting on the Anti-microbial Resistance (AMR), during the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly UNGA79 in New York.

After listening to the President of the Republic of Fiji, His Excellency Ratu Wiliame Maivalili Katonivere deliver his national address at the General Assembly Hall, Hon. Qereqeretabua delivered Fiji’s country statement on behalf of the delegation.

Titled “Investing in the Present and Securing Our Future Together: Accelerating Multi-sectoral Global, Regional, and National Actions to Address Anti-microbial Resistance”, the meeting took place at Conference Room 4, UNHQ on afternoon of Thursday 26^th September 2024.

In her remarks, Hon. Qereqeretabua said the fight against antimicrobial resistance (AMR) requires global solidarity and cooperation.

Hon. Qereqeretabua provided an overview on the actions taken by Fiji to mitigate the impact of AMR, and also urged the international community to support the low and middle income countries in providing technical and financial support to enhance AMR surveillance, research, and capacity-building efforts.

The Assistant Minister further emphasised on the need to promote innovation and investment in new antibiotics, vaccines, and diagnostic tools to combat resistant pathogens and to also strengthen Multi-sectoral collaboration to address the root causes of AMR.

She stated that as a small island nation with a high dependency on international trade and travel, the rise of AMR has national and regional implications on Fiji’s development and that addressing AMR is a priority in Fiji’s national action plan on antimicrobial resistance.