Role of Vaccines in the Fight Against AMR

According to the World Health Organisation, antimicrobial resistance is“an increasingly serious threat to global public health that requires action across all government sectors and society.”

Antimicrobial resistance occurs when a disease develops a resistance to the drugs used to treat it. This can lead to treatment failure and a significant increase in the burden of disease. Some examples of diseases and bacteria that are developing resistance around the world today include HIV, malaria, TB and staphylococcus aureus .

One of the key factors driving antimicrobial resistance today is our tendency to misuse or overuse antibiotics. The World Health Organisation goes so far as to say that “antibiotic resistance is putting the achievements of modern medicine at risk. Organ transplantations, chemotherapy and surgeries such as caesarean sections become much more dangerous without effective antibiotics for the prevention and treatment of infections.”