Ambassador Juan José Gómez Camacho
Permanent Representative of Mexico to the United Nations
With the release in May of the final report and recommendations of the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance, GBCHealth has convened a group of global leaders to discuss the potential impact of AMR and their priorities for immediate action. The #GBCtalksAMR series, which will be published over the next three weeks is intended to supplement the high-level meeting on AMR that took place at the UN General Assembly meeting on 21 September, 2016.
What do you see as the priorities for addressing the challenge of AMR in the short term?
The biggest challenge is how to start a movement that, at the national level, will allow governments to work in their National Action Plans on AMR. Another big priority is to organize an institutional arrangement that will allow international agencies to foster and coordinate their support for the national action plans.
Is there something particular about the challenges posed by AMR that make coordinated, multi-sector action even more essential?
It is more than that. AMR is in itself a multi-factor phenomenon caused by different sources and different actors –like the food industry, health settings, pharmaceutical companies, etc-, and the only way it can be addressed and attacked is by a multi-sectoral approach with a multi-stakeholder participation.
How can the private sector be an effective partner in the global AMR effort?
Governments have to facilitate new spaces to communicate to the industries their views and policies, and also allow them to engage and participate in such a process. At the same time, companies need to understand more the social challenges posed by their activities and be ready to engage in new and more effective business models.
How can we overcome barriers that inhibit investment and action to address AMR?
Through intense dialogue between governments and industries, in order to understand better the needs of public health and its broader impact on countries and societies, as well as the enormous challenges faced by industries.
Likewise, by identifying new and more innovative financial resources to invest in AMR solutions.
How can we ensure that all economic and social segments are included in efforts to address AMR?
Governments have to take the lead in developing spaces to foster this to happen.
Why has your office decided to become so involved with AMR including leading the consultation process for the high level dialogue at UNGA?
First, because I was asked to, and because of Mexico’s believe in the broad impact of health on country mobility to keep prosperity, and our conviction that AMR poses one of the gravest challenge to it.
Mexico has both the ability and the credibility to lead process such as this one, within the framework of what our President has called our Global Responsibility.
This series is meant to supplement the high-level meeting on AMR that took place at the UN General Assembly meeting on 21 September, 2016.
Additional interviews in the series include:
- Dr. David Barash, Executive Director, Global Health Portfolio & Chief Medical Officer, GE Foundation
- Dr. Monique Eloit, Director General, World Organisation for Animal Health
- Rohit Malpani, Director of Policy and Analysis, Médecins Sans Frontières
- Dr. Nafsiah Mboi, Special Envoy, Asia Pacific Leaders Malaria Alliance (APLMA)
- Ms. Maria Helena Semedo, Deputy Director-General, Coordinator Natural Resources, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Juan José Gómez Camacho
Permanent Representative of Mexico to the United Nations
Ambassador Juan José Gómez-Camacho has been the Permanent Representative of Mexico to the United Nations in New York since February 2016.
A career diplomat since 1988, the Ambassador has held different positions within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and abroad, amongst them: Ambassador to the European Union as well as Head of Mission to the Kingdom of Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg; Permanent Representative to the United Nations and other International Organizations in Geneva; and Ambassador to the Republic of Singapore, concurrent to the Union of Myanmar and the Sultanate of Brunei-Darussalam.
Ambassador Gómez-Camacho bears a broad experience in negotiations, both in the bilateral and multilateral fields, and in varied topics such as Political Affairs; Human Rights; Telecommunications; Disarmament, Nuclear and Conventional; and Health.
In the field of Global Health, he co-chaired negotiations for the WHO Pandemic Influenza Preparedness Framework (PIP), and had a prominent role in the conclusion of several landmark agreements and WIPO’s Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons who are Blind, Visually Impaired, or otherwise Print Disabled.
Ambassador Gómez-Camacho was invited last April by the President of the General Assembly to facilitate the outcome document for the High Level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance, held on September 21st, 2016, during the 71st Session of the UN General Assembly.
He holds a Master’s Degree in international law from Georgetown University in the United States, and earned his bachelor’s degree in law from the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City.