UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- Global leaders approved a political declaration Thursday at the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) to address antimicrobial resistance (AMR) threats.

AMR is an invisible killer, which is directly responsible for 1.3 million deaths and a contributing factor to five million other fatalities every year, according to the United Nations.

At a UNGA High-Level Meeting on AMR held on Thursday, global leaders voiced their commitment to a clear set of targets and actions, including reducing the estimated 4.95 million human deaths associated with bacterial AMR annually by 10 percent by 2030.

The approved declaration calls for sustainable national financing and 100 million U.S. dollars in catalytic funding, to help achieve a target of at least 60 percent of countries having funded national action plans on AMR by 2030.

The declaration also sets a more ambitious target that at least 70 percent of antibiotics used for human health globally should belong to the World Health Organization (WHO) Access group antibiotics with relatively minimal side effects and lower potential to cause AMR.

The declaration underscores the need to prevent and address the discharge of antimicrobials into the environment. It also calls for increased research and knowledge on the environmental dimensions of AMR and for catalyzing actions to address key sources of antimicrobial pollution.

"Today's declaration includes vital commitments that, if translated into action, will help to track AMR, slow it down, expand access to antimicrobial medicines like antibiotics and spur the development of new ones," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites no longer respond to medicines, leading to infections becoming difficult or impossible to treat, increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death. Enditem

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