Mariam Jashi Calling United Nations to Prioritize Sepsis
Dr. Mariam Jashi, CEO of the Global Sepsis Alliance, spoke at the first panel of the UN General Assembly’s High-Level Meeting on AMR in New York on September 26.
“Lives lost to AMR are lives lost to sepsis.”
On behalf of the Global Sepsis Alliance, Dr. Jashi welcomed the historic progress made in AMR advocacy, culminating in the political declaration of the UNGA79 High-Level Meeting.
However, she stressed that the inspiring dialogue among political and global health leaders and the final draft of the political declaration was missing adequate focus on sepsis, as the major killer of children, women, and men worldwide.
She reiterated that the 4.95 million AMR-related deaths are only part of the 13.7 million sepsis-related deaths and that the lives lost to AMR are the lives lost to sepsis.
With almost 50 million people affected by sepsis every year, including 20 million newborns and young children, and 5.7 million pregnant women, Dr. Jashi stated that we cannot achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, Universal Health Coverage, or aspiration of the AMR political declaration without prioritizing sepsis.
In her concluding remarks, she highlighted that the Global Sepsis Alliance launched the very first global strategy for sepsis – the 2030 Global Agenda for Sepsis – in partnership and leadership of the Global Health Sub-Committee of the German Parliament.
Dr. Jashi applauded US Senators for the recent submission of the sepsis bill and expressed hope for a successful outcome of the legislation process.
Finally, Mariam Jashi called the UN Member States, the United Nations Secretariat and its specialized agencies, and multiple public, private, academic, and civil society stakeholders to prioritize sepsis in the Sustainable Development and AMR agenda.