Challenges to Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance

Michael Anderson is a Research Officer in Health Policy at the Department of Health Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, and a Medical Doctor undertaking general practice specialty training. Michele Cecchini is a Senior Health Economist, Health Division, on the Directorate for Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Elias Mossialos is Brian Abel-Smith Professor of Health Policy, Head of the Department of Health Policy at the London School of Economics and Political Science, and Co-Director of the European Observatory on Health Systems.

'Challenges in Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance: Economic and Policy Responses is a timely publication for policy-makers working in the human, animal and environmental health sectors impacted by the emergence of AMR. Alongside climate change, AMR is one of the most pressing issues of our time. It requires a level of co-operation between countries and sectors, and an urgency that we are unaccustomed to. Every year thousands of patients in Belgium contract hospital infections. Our capacity to treat those infections using antibiotics, which help saving lives, is being undermined by the increasing presence of drug-resistant bacteria. We have taken several measures to better manage the use of antibiotics and promote infection control as part of a One Health approach. More action is needed and, crucially, this book synthesises the most recent evidence on essential policies to tackle AMR. I hope this book will help to mobilise resources across sectors and across countries to halt this significant threat to public health. The progress we have achieved over many decades is in jeopardy. This book is a clear call to action.' Maggie De Block, Minister for Social Affairs and Public Health, and Asylum Policy and Migration, Belgium

• 1. Introduction Michael Anderson, Anuja Chatterjee, Charles Clift and Elias Mossialos; 2. The health and economic burden of antimicrobial resistance Driss Ait Ouakrim, Alessandro Cassini, Michele Cecchini and Diamantis Plachouras; 3. Tackling antimicrobial resistance in the community Sarah Tonkin-Crine, Lucy Abel, Oliver van Hecke, Kay Wang and Chris Butler; 4. Tackling antimicrobial resistance in the hospital sector Rasmus Leistner and Inge Gyssens; 5. Tackling antimicrobial resistance in the food and livestock sector Jeroen Dewulf, Sussana Sternberg-Lewerin and Michael Ryan; 6. Fostering R&D of novel antibiotics and other technologies to prevent and treat infection Matthew Renwick and Elias Mossialos; 7. Ensuring innovation for diagnostics for bacterial infection to combat antimicrobial resistance Rosanna W. Peeling, Debrah Boeras and John Nkengasong; 8. The role of vaccines in combating antimicrobial resistance Mark Jit and Ben Cooper; 9. The role of civil society in tackling antimicrobial resistance Anthony So and Reshma Ramachandran.