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The crisis of antimicrobial resistance and its impact on global health care

In recent years, the response to the AMR crisis has been spearheaded by leading international organizations.

In recent years, the response to the AMR crisis has been spearheaded by leading international organizations such as the United Nations (UN) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

In 2016, a high-level meeting of the UN was called in New York to discuss the AMR crisis. This was only the fourth time in history that the UN General Assembly held a high-level meeting for a health issue, indicating the magnitude of the problem. Global leaders were present to address the emergency of the situation and to commit to a sustainable response and support to the ‘Global action plan on antimicrobial resistance’ proposed by WHO at the Sixty-eight World Health Assembly in May 2015. The action plan highlights “the need for an effective “one health” approach involving coordination among numerous international sectors and actors, including human and veterinary medicine, agriculture, finance, environment, and well-informed consumers.”

The core of the action plan is centered on five strategic objectives:

to improve awareness and understanding of antimicrobial resistance;
to strengthen knowledge through surveillance and research;
to reduce the incidence of infection;
to optimize the use of antimicrobial agents; and
to develop the economic case for sustainable investment that takes account of all countries’ needs and increase investment in new medicines, diagnostic tools, vaccines and other interventions.