Behavioural and Cultural Insights and the fight against Antimicrobial Resistance
Overview
Why pay attention to antimicrobial resistance (AMR)?
Antimicrobial agents like antibiotics are essential to treat some hu- man and animal infectious diseases. AMR occurs when microorganisms change so that they are no longer affected by antimicrobial drugs used to treat them. There are different types of antimicrobials which work against different types of microorganisms, e.g. antibacterials or antibiotics against bacteria, antivirals against viruses, and antifungals against fungi. Antimicrobials are often used incorrectly.
The development of resistance is accelerated by the incorrect use of these drugs, for example, using antibiotics (which help to treat bacteria) for viral infections like flu, or as a growth promoter in agriculture.
Because of growing resistance, the world is running out of effective antibiotics to treat infectious diseases. Unless appropriate action is taken, decades of progress in health and medicine risk being undone.
In May 2015, the World Health Assembly (WHA) endorsed a global action plan on AMR and urged all Member States to develop national action plans. WHA72 (May 2019) called for an accelerated implementation of this plan.
