Moderators: Dr Peter Eagles, South Africa, and Dr Laila

A. Rahman, Bahrain

The extent of antimicrobial resistance is increasing, posing a challenge to health care providers throughout the world. This problem is leading directly to increased morbidity and mortality of patients with various infections, particularly HIV and malaria. Ultimately, antimicrobial resistance threatens global stability and national security.

National and global strategies to combat resistance are urgently needed. The WHO Global Strategy for Containment of Antimicrobial Resistance provides a framework for interventions to slow the emergence of resistance. Further international collaboration to exchange information on the use of antimicrobials, infection control and resistance surveillance data would be helpful.