Newsletter

AMR
Action &
Insights


AMR Action & Insights will explore how we mitigate the impact of antimicrobial resistance in Australia and beyond.

WAAW campaign header

World AMR Awareness Week 2024

World AMR Awareness Week (WAAW) is a global campaign, initiated by the World Heath Organization to raise awareness and understanding of AMR and promote best practices among One Health stakeholders to reduce the emergence and spread of drug-resistant infections. WAAW is celebrated from 18-24 November every year.

The theme for WAAW 2024 is “Educate. Advocate. Act now.”

The WAAW theme align with the mission of AMR Action & Insights to provide evidence-based, accessible information to inform policy and action to reduce the impact of AMR on human, animal and environmental health.

Latest articles:

Up to 90% of drugs under development fail before they reach market, but teams at CSIRO are hoping AI can accelerate the search for new antibiotics.

Accelerating AI to search for new antibiotics

CSIRO experts are using artificial intelligence (AI) in the search for new antibiotics and say it will lead to a better hit rate of successful pharmaceutical candidates …
Escherichia Coli rendering

How do bacteria actually become resistant to antibiotics?

Contrary to a common belief, antibiotic resistance is not about your body becoming resistant to antibiotics …
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) data captured from across Australiua

Making sense of AMR data

Understanding and linking data between animals, humans and the ecosystem …
A One Health approach considers how human, animal and environmental health are linked, especially in the case of AMR.

A One Health approach to antimicrobial resistance 

A comprehensive One Health approach addresses the interconnectedness of human, animal, and environmental health …
A group of Indigenous Australian women talking around a table. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled health organisations take a vastly different approach from the mainstream health system.

Community control key to reducing AMR in Australia 

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community controlled health organisations take a different approach from the mainstream health system, with impressive results …
Antimicrobial resistance(AMR) can affect anyone, whether they take antimicrobials or not.

Explainer: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR)

AMR occurs when microbes, such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites evolve to resist the drugs designed to kill them, rendering treatments ineffective …
View all articles in the Knowledge Hub

Deaths associated with AMR

100

per week in Australia – now

Livestock

7.5%

decline by 2050

Poverty

28.3M

more people by 2050

Health costs

300%

increase globally by 2050

Human health and AMR

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a profound threat to human health, undermining the efficacy of antibiotics that have been the cornerstone of modern medicine.

As bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites evolve to resist the effects of medications, common infections become harder to treat, leading to longer illnesses, higher medical costs, and increased mortality.

Human health and AMR

Animal health and AMR

AMR is a major emerging issue in animal health, for both production and companion animals.

However many of the assumptions about the use of antimicrobials in food production in Australia are incorrect, and informed by perceptions in overseas industries.

Animal health and AMR
Companion animals like dogs and cats are just as susceptible to AMR as their humans
Wastewater pipe opens onto a natural waterway.

Environment and AMR

The environment is somewhat overlooked when it comes to antimicrobial resistance. Yet AMR can spread within the environment through water, wastewater, animal manure, and food.

Environmental health and AMR

One Health

The One Health approach recognises that the health of humans, animals, and the environment are interconnected.

AMR is a critical issue that spans these domains and which requires a collaborative effort to mitigate its impact.

One Health
One Health infographic style diagram showing the overlapping sectors of human, animal and environmental health.