With the WHO declaring antimicrobial resistance (AMR) one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity and with 1.27 million deaths directly related to AMR plus antimicrobial-resistant infections playing a role in almost 5 million deaths in 2019, tackling the issue requires a united, multisectoral approach.

Antimicrobial resistance: the next pandemic

AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death. As a result of drug resistance, antibiotics and other antimicrobial medicines become ineffective and infections become increasingly difficult or impossible to treat.

Without effective tools for the prevention and adequate treatment of drug-resistant infections and improved access to existing and new quality-assured antimicrobials, the number of people for whom treatment is failing or who die of infections will increase. Medical procedures, such as surgery, including caesarean sections or hip replacements, cancer chemotherapy, and organ transplantation, will become more risky.

BioInfect will examine the issues surrounding the increasing threat of AMR and how it can be tackled, such as the need for greater innovation and investment in new drug development, the effectiveness of current and proposed reimbursement models, the efficacy of new and alternative treatments and how organisations, stakeholders and policymakers can work together more effectively to combat this global issue.

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