Professor Dame Sally Davies
UK Special Envoy on Antimicrobial Resistance
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) affects everyone, threatening our health, economies and food security. We must act on our commitments to tackle AMR, or its impact will only get worse.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a global emergency. Without action, annual deaths could reach 1.9 million by 2050,1 and the global economy could lose $1.7 trillion.2 The UK alone could face $59 billion in losses, including $2.8 billion in additional healthcare costs.3 Drug-resistant infections make it harder to treat diseases like HIV, malaria and tuberculosis. Dangerous fungi like Candida auris are rising sharply in European hospitals.
AMR hits hardest where vulnerability is greatest
Deaths have increased by 80% since 1990 in those over 70 and are projected to double by 2050.1 Cancer patients are particularly at risk. Data shows how countries with the weakest healthcare systems and most challenging access issues to essential antibiotics and diagnostics bear the greatest AMR burden. This is a preventable crisis, but only if we act decisively and collectively.
By pooling our strengths and learning from each other, we can change the course of AMR.
Turning commitments into action
Last year, world leaders made a strong commitment to tackle AMR at the UN General Assembly (UNGA), including to reduce global AMR deaths by 10% by 2030. We need to turn those words into action.
As promised at UNGA, a new Independent Panel for Evidence for Action on AMR (IPEA) will launch this year. This panel will bring together the latest data to guide global policy and help countries respond effectively to AMR challenges. The panel must be scientifically independent, globally representative and inclusive of all countries and sectors. Hosting it in Africa, where the burden of AMR is greatest, would send a powerful signal.
No single country or sector can solve AMR alone
The UNGA Political Declaration gives us direction. Now, we need evidence-based, pragmatic solutions that work locally but scale globally. The new IPEA will help in this, translating the wealth of data that we have into potential solutions, helping countries to target and resource their responses.
While evidence is crucial, it must be backed by a universal commitment to act. By pooling our strengths and learning from each other, we can change the course of AMR.
[1] Naghavi, M et. al. The Lancet, Volume 404, Issue 10459, 1199 – 1226. Global burden of bacterial antimicrobial resistance 1990–2021: a systematic analysis with forecasts to 2050
[2] McDonnell A, et. al. 2024. Forecasting the Fallout from AMR: Economic Impacts of Antimicrobial Resistance in Humans – A report from the EcoAMR series. Paris (France) and Washington, DC (United States of America): World Organisation for Animal Health and World Bank, pp. 58.
[3] https://www.cgdev.org/media/forecasting-fallout-amr-economic-impacts-antimicrobial-resistance-humans
