FIND statement on priority 1 at the first health working group of the G20 in India

Priority 1

Health emergencies prevention, preparedness and response (with focus on One Health and AMR)

Delivered by Bill Rodriguez, FIND CEO
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India, 18 January 2023

I would like to share from FIND’s experience of working in diagnostics for the last 20 years and our work during the COVID-19 pandemic, as the lead for the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator diagnostics pillar.

First, COVID-19 highlighted that pandemic preparedness and routine primary healthcare services are inseparable.

Second, prevention, preparedness and response (PPR) and the antimicrobial resistance (AMR) response will fail without investments in building human capacity and diagnostic testing infrastructure at the primary healthcare level, where sustained threat monitoring must be implemented to be successful.

Third, at the international level, we must build on lessons from the ACT-Accelerator – including the importance of broad global representation and community engagement in PPR. FIND is therefore supporting a global alliance for diagnostics and is thankful for the interest to provide governance and leadership from G20 member states, as well our many important partners across the world, such as Africa CDC.

Finally, PPR investments, including those on AMR, should focus on the following three areas:

• R&D for new diagnostic tools that can identify pathogens and antibiotic resistance with a rapid turnaround, to enable quick, accurate decisions and good antimicrobial stewardship.
• Improved access to affordable, point-of-care tests to ensure data on priority diseases and antibiotic resistance and their spread is generated in all countries and regions of the world.
• Investments in digital health tools and connectivity systems to ensure that data captured at primary and district levels are shared to support national, regional, and global disease surveillance. Support to low- and middle-income countries where AMR data are scarce and where there are significant gaps in our understanding of antimicrobial resistance patterns is essential. I stress that the G20 vision must spur innovation and prioritize the diagnostic tools to detect current and future antibiotic resistance patterns, an effort which requires significant funding, and which should be complemented by requirements that the recipients of R&D funding must enable global access and technology transfer to LMICs.

Thank you, Chair.