By Timo Minssen, Kevin Outterson, Susan Rogers Van Katwyk, Pedro Henrique D. Batista, Clare Chandler, Francesco Ciabuschi, Stephan Harbarth, Aaron S. Kesselheim, Ramanan Laxminarayan, Kathleen Liddell, Michael T. Osterholm, Lance Price, Steven J. Hoffman
NB: The below contribution is an extended version of our editorial that was recently published in the Bulletin of the Word Health Organization.
The COVID-19 pandemic has raised awareness of the urgent need to improve the design of health systems, as well as the practical implementation of new strategies and technical solutions to better prepare for future pandemics. These preparations must also consider harms secondary to the pandemic, including the resulting effects on antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
While drug-resistant infections pose a well-known and severe threat to human and animal health, the COVID-19 pandemic is compounding this already problematic situation.