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GHE Issues Briefs

The European approach to antimicrobial resistance: sucess stories and challenges

The newest Global Health Europe Issue Brief provides a concise background on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). Authors Wernli, Haustein, and Harbarth, of the University of Geneva Hospitals and Faculty of Medicine, unpack the issue of AMR explaining what it is, how it spreads, and what the European region has been doing to address this challenge.

AMR is a pressing cross-border health challenge that requires collective and coordinated policies and action from the local to the global level of governance. The story behind AMR is a tragedy of the commons on a global scale and it provides a poignant example of what is at stake when essential global public goods are underprovided due to a lack of appropriate regulation and enforcement.

Directed at policy making audiences, this GHE Issue Brief succinctly explains this complex technical issue and why it is an urgent priority for the global health community of actors. The paper also provides an analysis of how the European region has approached the challenge of AMR and the potential for further European leadership on this issue.