A Global Call to Action to Fight Antimicrobial Resistance: IDSA and ESCMID Joint White Paper

The Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and European Society for Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ESCMID) urge the adoption of a political declaration to accelerate progress against antimicrobial resistance (AMR) across human, animal, agricultural, and environmental sectors. AMR is a significant threat to global health, with an estimated 1.27 million deaths in 2019 due to bacterial AMR. The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the burden of AMR, placing extreme pressure on hospitals and health systems, overcrowding healthcare facilities, and decreasing resources for infection prevention and control. AMR is eroding much of medical progress, with few treatment options available for serious infections. To achieve sustainable progress against AMR, a global commitment to scale up action commensurate with the present threat must be agreed upon. A comprehensive One Health approach is necessary to better identify, track, prevent, and treat AMR infections, as antimicrobial use in animals, plants, and the environment contributes to resistance with deleterious effects for health in each sector.