FAO Advances AMR Monitoring in Latin America, Caribbean

FAO held a special session to reinforce the participation of Latin American and Caribbean countries in the International FAO Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (InFARM). The session brought together 145 government officials and specialized teams working on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to provide guidance on the platform’s objectives, functions and data submission process for the 2025 call.

FAO’s Animal Production and Health Division, based at its headquarters in Rome, and the Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean presented a range of technical resources supporting the second global data call on AMR in animals and food. The initiative aims to help countries better collect, coordinate and report data to improve decision-making and policy development.

“In many countries, there is a large amount of data, but sometimes there is a lack of coordination or the capacity to transform that data. From FAO’s perspective, this is also an opportunity to convert that data into useful information for policy implementation and decision-making on antimicrobial resistance,” said Alejandro Dorado, Animal Health Officer, FAO. 

The feedback gathered during the session will help shape future regional and national technical assistance on AMR monitoring. FAO highlighted that the spread of antimicrobial resistance poses an increasing global threat to human, animal, plant and environmental health. Through its One Health approach, the organization works to minimize and control the impacts of AMR on agrifood systems worldwide.