From Local to Global Action in the Fight Against Antimicrobial Resistance

Since the advent of penicillin in the 1920s, antimicrobial drugs have become the foundation of modern medicine. Yet growing antimicrobial resistance (AMR)—the increasing ability of pathogens to withstand and survive treatment with antimicrobial drugs—threatens to erode and reverse almost a century of health gains. The United Kingdom’s Review on Antimicrobial Resistance suggests that AMR could cause 10 million deaths each year and drain over $100 trillion from the global economy by 2050. Heads of state set precedent at the G20 summit in 2015 by affirming AMR is a serious threat that will require a coordinated international response.