Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which includes antibiotic resistance, occurs when germs like bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites change over time and no longer respond to the medicines used to treat them. This means that antibiotics and other drugs become ineffective, and infections become increasingly complex or impossible to treat. AMR is now considered one of humanity's top global public health and development threats. Bacterial AMR was estimated to be directly responsible for 1.27 million global deaths in 2019 and contributed to 4.95 million deaths. The increasing number of infections due to multidrug-resistant organisms, sometimes called "superbugs," is growing faster than the development of new antibiotics.

This loss of antibiotic effectiveness threatens to return humanity to a time when a simple cut could become life-threatening. ...