title: Antibiotic resistance-the need for global solutions.
abstract: The causes of antibiotic resistance are complex and include human behaviour at many levels of society; the consequences affect everybody in the world. Similarities with climate change are evident. Many efforts have been made to describe the many different facets of antibiotic resistance and the interventions needed to meet the challenge. However, coordinated action is largely absent, especially at the political level, both nationally and internationally. Antibiotics paved the way for unprecedented medical and societal developments, and are today indispensible in all health systems. Achievements in modern medicine, such as major surgery, organ transplantation, treatment of preterm babies, and cancer chemotherapy, which we today take for granted, would not be possible without access to effective treatment for bacterial infections. Within just a few years, we might be faced with dire setbacks, medically, socially, and economically, unless real and unprecedented global coordinated actions are immediately taken. Here, we describe the global situation of antibiotic resistance, its major causes and consequences, and identify key areas in which action is urgently needed.
authors.affiliation: Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy, Washington, DC, USA; Princeton University, Princeton NJ, USA; Public Health Foundation of India, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Ramanan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Laxminarayan
authors.forename: Adriano
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Duse
authors.forename: Chand
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wattal
authors.forename: Anita K M
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Zaidi
authors.forename: Heiman F L
authors.initials: HF
authors.lastname: Wertheim
authors.forename: Nithima
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sumpradit
authors.forename: Erika
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vlieghe
authors.forename: Gabriel Levy
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Hara
authors.forename: Ian M
authors.initials: IM
authors.lastname: Gould
authors.forename: Herman
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Goossens
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Greko
authors.forename: Anthony D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: So
authors.forename: Maryam
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bigdeli
authors.forename: Göran
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Tomson
authors.forename: Will
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Woodhouse
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ombaka
authors.forename: Arturo Quizhpe
authors.initials: AQ
authors.lastname: Peralta
authors.forename: Farah Naz
authors.initials: FN
authors.lastname: Qamar
authors.forename: Fatima
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mir
authors.forename: Sam
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kariuki
authors.forename: Zulfiqar A
authors.initials: ZA
authors.lastname: Bhutta
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Coates
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bergstrom
authors.forename: Gerard D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.forename: Eric D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Otto
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Cars
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000188:drug therapy; D057231:Climate Change; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D014943:Global Health; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents