Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is a slow, silent pandemic and one of the top ten global health threats. AMR occurs when an antimicrobial drug which would typically cure infections by killing the harmful microorganisms that cause them, no longer works because the microorganisms have become resistant to the drug.
The cost of AMR is significant: prolonged illness and hospital admissions, death, disability, the need for more expensive medicines, the cost of research into new drugs, and financial challenges for those impacted. According to the 2022 Lancet report, AMR is currently responsible for 4.95 million deaths per year, worldwide, and this number is projected to increase to 10 million deaths annually by 2050, leading to an estimated economic loss of $100 trillion, as stated by the O’Neill Report.
