Global response to antimicrobial resistance ‘insufficient’

Governments around the world must do more to tackle the growing threat of drug-resistant infections, new research suggests. 

National action plans to tackle the threat from antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites stop responding to medicines designed to treat them, were developed by more than 100 countries.   

The plans focus on designing policies to curb AMR and devising tools to implement the policies – but they do not adequately factor in monitoring and evaluation.    

The new research, carried out by experts at the universities of Leeds, Edinburgh and Hamburg, is the first large-scale analysis of these plans. They were designed after encouragement from the World Health Organisation, which has declared AMR one of the top 10 public health threats facing humanity.