Sustainable antimicrobial resistance surveillance: time for a global funding mechanism

Abstract

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is predicted to outstrip malaria, HIV, and tuberculosis combined as the leading infectious cause of death by 2050. Strengthening the knowledge and evidence base for AMR with surveillance and research is one of the five main objectives of the WHO Global Action Plan on AMR. While recent efforts to strengthen diagnosis and surveillance have been encouraging, these are unlikely to be sustainable without continued funding support in most low-resource settings. We estimated the continued costs of a standard national AMR surveillance system in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). For 46 LMICs, the costs would account for more than 2% of their total domestic general government health expenditure (GGHE-D), and for 28 of these countries, the costs are more than 5% of their total GGHE-D. This high cost is not sustainable without a long-term global financing mechanism.