Antimicrobial resistance: it’s time for global action

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria, fungi or viruses change in a way that makes the drugs used to treat them ineffective.

These drug-resistant infections are much harder – if not impossible – to treat and cure. They cause over a million deaths every year, and projections suggest this will increase significantly over the next few decades. By 2030, the health impacts of AMR could lead to a US $3.4 trillion annual shortfall in global GDP [PDF 3.8MB].

However, the effects are not experienced equally. Low- and middle-income countries have the highest burden of drug-resistant infections.

For example, in sub-Saharan Africa, nearly 1 in 1,000 deaths are already associated with bacterial antimicrobial resistance, compared to half as many in high-income countries.

While there has been some progress in tackling AMR in recent years, it isn’t enough. The global response remains too weak and fragmented to manage the growing burden of disease.

At the 79th UN General Assembly, world leaders committed to a clear set of global targets and the creation of an independent evidence panel.

Now, we need to see these commitments translated into action.

A more ambitious and globally coherent approach will be critical to tackle the increasing threat of antimicrobial resistance.

We support science to tackle the biggest barriers to controlling infectious disease in the most affected communities. This includes research to better understand the global burden of AMR and accelerate the development of new interventions.

• We’re funding evidence generation – from our analysis of the antimicrobial resistance landscape to the Global Research on Antimicrobial Resistance project, which provides the first comprehensive estimate of AMR burden in 204 countries and territories.
• We’re supporting projects all over the world that improve how countries track, share and analyse information about the spread of drug-resistant infections – from the Surveillance and Epidemiology of Drug-resistant Infections Consortium (SEDRIC) to A Clinically Oriented Antimicrobial Resistance Network (ACORN).
• Since 2016, we have supported CARB-X, a global non-profit partnership dedicated to supporting early-stage antibiotics, diagnostics and vaccines research and development to address the rising threat of drug-resistant bacteria.
• We're also working with the communities most affected by AMR, with projects like ABACUS, which explored the case for a standardised physical appearance of antibiotics to improve the confusion between medicine suppliers and community members.
• We funded the UN Foundation to create an AMR messaging guide to help stakeholders communicate the complexities of antimicrobial resistance and align around collective calls for action. The guide also includes a toolkit to communicate key messages via social media.
• In collaboration with the Novo Nordisk Foundation and the Gates Foundation, we launched a new initiative to drive innovation in early drug discovery for Gram-negative pathogens.