Country Correspondent: Roosa Tikkanen
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a top health policy priority for countries around the world. In some nations, 40 percent to 60 percent of the most common bacterial organisms do not respond to antibiotic treatment, putting children, the elderly, and others at risk of contracting resistant infections. In a November 2018 report, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) estimated the costs of combating AMR globally, using advanced techniques such as machine learning. The report finds that most AMR deaths could be prevented by spending just $2 per person per year on simple measures, including promoting better hygiene such as hand-washing, curbing inappropriate antibiotic prescribing, and rapidly testing patients to determine whether they have viral or bacterial infections.
