The second edition of the Global Health Resilience campaign from Mediaplanet launched today and once again the ESCMID AMR Action Subcommittee was a proud partner discussing the importance of AMR. In this second article Holger Rohde and Chantal Morel focus on the need to bolster overall health systems over addressing individual issues. Reforms to our health systems is essential to create the systemic change needed to beat AMR on a global scale.
The ESCMID AMR Action Subcommittee partnered with Mediaplanet on their Global Health Resilience campaign which launched on 30 April 2025. They bring in the important topic of fighting Antimicrobial Resistance to bolster global health resilience. You can read the full article covering the need for global collaboration and inclusion of policy changes to properly combat AMR.
At the 35th ESCMID Global Congress in Vienna, ESCMID and the AMR Global Leaders Group co-hosted the third joint Science Policy Forum to advance dialogue between scientists and policy-makers. This year’s Forum focused on the outcomes of the 2024 UNGA-AMR High-level Meeting, particularly the political commitments aimed at reducing the global burden of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Key stakeholders from international organisations, academia, and national authorities gathered to discuss how to translate these commitments into evidence-based policy action.
Fungal infections are an increasing global health threat, disproportionately affecting vulnerable populations—including patients with cancer, HIV, organ transplants, or those in intensive care. Mortality rates remain unacceptably high, yet diagnostic tools are often unavailable, especially in low- and middle-income countries, and treatment options remain limited. Alarmingly, only three antifungal drugs are currently in late-stage clinical trials, and diagnostic capacity falls far short of what is needed for timely and appropriate care.
Despite steady increases in recent years, antifungal resistance still receives limited attention within the broader antimicrobial resistance (AMR) agenda. This gap may have significant consequences in terms of morbidity, mortality, length of hospital stay, healthcare costs, and adverse outcomes.
To address this, the World Health Organization (WHO) has just published its first-ever reports on antifungal diagnostics and therapeutics—a landmark step that highlights both the urgency of the threat and the historical neglect of fungal pathogens. The WHO calls for enhanced global surveillance, greater investment in research, and stronger cross-sector coordination—including in agriculture, where fungicide use may drive resistance to clinical antifungals.
For ESCMID members, these reports represent a clear call to action: we must push for fungal infections to be fully integrated into AMR strategies, support innovation, and promote collaboration among clinicians, microbiologists, and policymakers.
Let’s ensure fungal infections are no longer the “neglected dimension” of AMR.
Written by: Antonio Vena (EFISG Educational Officer), Jon Salmanton-García (EFISG Chair), Valentijn Schweitzer (ESCMID AMR Action Communications Officer), Holger Rohde (ESCMID AMR Action Director)
The AMR Action Subcommittee published a commentary with the support of the Trainee Association of ESCMID (TAE) covering their activities during World AMR Awareness Week 2024. This annual event is a major time to reflect on and bring to light the ongoing challenges of antimicrobial resistance. This year the theme was “Educate. Advocate. Act now.” and the subcommittee organised a webinar series in collaboration with the TAE and ISID to discuss topics like epidemiology, surveillance and policy. You can read on their activities and the key takeaways from the events along with their ideas for the path forward in this commentary published in CMI Communications.
There is a concerning recent emergence of a hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae exhibiting extensive or panresistant phenotype through acquisition of carbapenemase-encoding elements. Between the two ECDC risk assessments in March 2021 and February 2024 the number of EU/EEA countries reporting cases increased from 4 to 10, with the total number of reported cases increasing from 12 to 143. Despite control efforts, there is now evidence of sustained spread of a specific lineage of hypervirulent carbapenemase-producing K. pneumoniae, i.e. ST23-K1, in one European country (Ireland) as well as potential within-country transmission in three other European countries (France, Latvia, and Lithuania) although epidemiological data to confirm this were missing.
Links
A new report from the Global Leaders Group (GLG) on AMR outlines 10 policy recommendations for consideration at the UN General Assembly High-level Meeting on AMR in September 2024.
Complex Problems, Diverse Perspectives and Integrated Solutions: Rethinking AMR Response with our WAAW 2025 Webinar Series
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This webinar will explore the humanitarian and geopolitical dimensions of antimicrobial resistance, highlighting challenges in surveillance, stewardship, diagnostics, and treatment in conflict settings. Speakers will share frontline experiences and research insights to discuss strategies for mitigating AMR in humanitarian crises.
28 October 2025, 16:00 – 17:30 CET
Moderator(s): Tuomas Aro
Speakers: Aula Abbara (Médecins Sans Frontières) & Guido Granata (National Institute for Infectious Diseases “L. Spallanzani”, Italy)
This webinar will focus on AI-supported prescribing platforms, digital diagnostics, and other tools, while addressing ethical considerations, equity, and implementation challenges. Speakers will highlight how these advances are transforming research approaches and clinical decision-making.
04 November 2025, 16:00 – 17:30 CET
Moderator(s): Holger Rohde, Claudio Neidhöfer, David Eyre
Speakers: Daniele Roberto Giacobbe (IRCCS Ospedale Policlinico San Martino, Italy) & Doaa Amin (University College Dublin)
This webinar will explore how behavioural nudges, framing, and habit loops can improve prescribing practices and public awareness. It will cover examples from primary care settings, strategic behavioural analyses and published AMR trials.
11 November 2025, 16:00 – 17:30 CET
Moderator(s): Tomislav Mestrovic, Filippo Medioli, Diane Ashiru-Oredope
Speakers: Aleksandra J. Borek (SWPS University, Poland) & Tim Chadborn (WHO)
This webinar will highlight how vaccines can reduce antibiotic use and save lives, emphasizing vaccines currently in development with the highest potential impact on AMR. Attendees will gain insights into the role of vaccination in combating resistance and improving global health outcomes.
08 November 2025, 12:00 – 13:30 CET
Moderator(s): Anna Both, Christian Kraef
Speakers: Chinwe Iwu-Jaja (Vaccine Preventable Disease Programme, World Health Organisation) & Nimesh Poudyal (AMR Department, International Vaccine Institute)
Understanding the epidemiology and burden of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is crucial for formulating effective public health strategies. This session will delve into the trends, regional variations and future projections of AMR – highlighting the importance of comprehensive data and targeted interventions.
28 October 2024, 17:00 - 18:00 CET
Moderators: Anna Both, Christian Kraef
Accurate and timely diagnosis is a cornerstone in the fight against AMR. This session will explore the challenges and innovations in diagnostic tools, especially in resource-limited settings, but also the importance of surveillance. It will also address global initiatives aimed at reducing diagnostic inequalities to improve AMR management worldwide.
6 November 2024, 17:00 - 18:00 CET
Moderators: Sara Tomczyk, Claudio Neidhöfer
The development of new antibiotics and the optimisation of existing treatments are vital to counter the growing threat of AMR. This session will cover the latest strategies in antibiotic development, the challenges faced in different phases of drug development, and the efforts to improve diagnosis and treatment of antibiotic-resistant infections.
13 November 2024, 15:30 - 16:30 CET
Moderators: Tomislav Mestrovic, Giorgia Caruana
This session will be in collaboration with the International Society for Infectious Diseases (ISID)
Global collaboration and policy-making are essential to effectively combat AMR. This session will discuss the strategic directions from the policy-makers, the specific needs of low- and lower-middle-income countries (LMICs), as well as the potential role of vaccines in reducing AMR. The focus will be on actionable policies and collaborative efforts to address this global health challenge.
20 November 2024, 17:00 - 18:30 CET
Moderators: Holger Rohde, Nicholas Power
Moderators: Holger Rohde, Giorgia Caruana
Moderators: Anna Both, Claudio Neidhöfer