[World Health Organization's strategy to contain resistance to antimicrobial drugs]

Abstract

This piece summarizes a report from the World Health Organization on the WHO Global Strategy for Containment of Antimicrobial Resistance. The Strategy provides a framework for interventions aimed at minimizing the appearance and spread of resistant microorganisms, through a series of measures designed to: reduce morbidity and the spread of infections, improve access to appropriate antimicrobial drugs, improve the use of antimicrobial drugs, strengthen health systems and their surveillance capacity, enforce regulations and legislation, and promote the development of new drugs and vaccines. The Strategy report makes a series of recommendations for interventions related to: patients and the community in general, those who prescribe and dispense antimicrobial drugs, hospitals, the administration of antimicrobial drugs to animals destined for human consumption, national governments and health systems, the development of drugs and vaccines, the promotion and advertising of drugs, and international aspects of containing resistance to antimicrobial drugs. In addition, the report puts forth a model for implementing the WHO Strategy, in which a step-by-step approach is used to discern the most important interventions and to identify a logical sequence for putting them into place.