Dubbed the superbug pandemic, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been recognised by the World Health Organization as one of the top 10 public health threats facing humanity. 

Effective antibiotics underpin modern medicine and yet, it takes just two to three years for new antimicrobial medicines to become ineffective against superbugs. Worryingly, the innovation pipeline for new antibiotics is stagnating. 

An estimated 10 million people globally will die each year by 2050 from infections that can be readily treated today.

To mark this year’s World Antimicrobial Awareness Week, MTPConnect and its Australian Antimicrobial Resistance Network (AAMRNet), has launched the second of its Fighting Superbugs reports, Fighting Superbugs: Ensuring Australia is Ready to Combat the Rise of Drug Resistant Infections, prepared in response to the Australian Parliament’s report, The New Frontier – Delivering better health for all Australians.

The independent report developed by Evohealth presents nine recommendations, urging immediate action to enhance the availability of new antibiotics and equip the Australian healthcare system to fight the superbug pandemic.

Hosts Caroline Duell and MTPConnect’s Andrew Bowskill co-chair of the AAMRNet discuss AMR with two of the reports’ authors - Former Chair of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee Emeritus Professor Lloyd Sansom, a renowned pharmacy academic, policy advisor and researcher and Renae Beardmore, Founder and Managing Director of specialist health advisory firm Evohealth and former Chief Pharmacist for the ACT. You can find the report on MTPConnect’s website.