NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Friday, May 9, 2014

Antimicrobial resistance threatens to make a wide range of drugs for common diseases such as pneumonia, diarrhoea, malaria andtuberculosis increasingly toothless, and poor surveillance networks are hindering response efforts, a UN report finds.

Better analytical laboratories and healthcare systems are essential, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, to fill the significant data gaps on the characteristics and distribution of drug-resistant pathogens, according to the WHO’s first antimicrobial resistance (AMR) report, published last week (30 April).

A clearer picture would allow decision-makers to identify resistance hotspots and tailor treatment programmes, making them more effective for patients and minimising the risk of spreading resistance, it says.