What is AMR? Antimicrobial resistance explained

Antimicrobials are medicines that kill or slow the growth of pathogens (bacteria and fungi) that cause disease. Antibiotics are the most prescribed antimicrobial.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when pathogens, such as bacteria and fungi, no longer respond to drugs that are intended to kill them. This causes ‘treatment failure’, which is the inability of the drug to treat the cause of infection.

AMR is one of the most significant public health threats the world is currently facing. We are all vulnerable to drug-resistant infections. It is estimated that without action, by 2050 AMR will cause 10 million deaths per year globally.

If we do not control the increase of AMR, we will return to a time where many infections become untreatable, surgery becomes inherently risky and infections and injuries that are currently treatable will once again cause death.