Antibiotic resistance and COVID-19: An urgent global threat
Despite international travel being greatly restricted by COVID-19, there is evidence the pandemic is accelerating antimicrobial resistance in other ways.
In May 2015, the World Health Assembly endorsed a global action plan to tackle antimicrobial resistance, including antibiotic resistance, the most urgent drug-resistance trend.
In the following year, global leaders met at the UN General Assembly, in New York, and made a joint commitment to fighting antimicrobial resistance.
This was only the fourth time in the history of the UN that a health topic had been discussed at the General Assembly.
Key drivers of antimicrobial resistance are the use of antibiotics in food production and overuse in clinical settings.
