Course Synopsis

  Background & Context

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major global threat because drug-resistant infections can cause preventable deaths, spread within communities and health facilities, and generate substantial costs for patients, health systems, and society. Tackling AMR requires first understanding its magnitude and drivers, which depends on collecting, sharing, and using high-quality AMR and antimicrobial use (AMU) data.

AMR surveillance professionals play a central role in this process, supporting the collection, analysis, interpretation, and use of surveillance data to inform actions across the One Health spectrum. AMR also has profound impacts beyond human health: it threatens food security, economic productivity, and environmental sustainability. This course introduces the health and economic burden of AMR from a One Health perspective, including the epidemiological foundations of burden, methods to measure AMR burden, their strengths and limitations, and how economic evaluation — especially cost-effectiveness analysis — can support policy and investment decisions to mitigate AMR.

  Objectives

This course aims to strengthen participants' ability to quantify and interpret the epidemiological and economic burden of AMR and to use AMR/AMU data to inform evidence-based decisions under a One Health approach.

• Explain AMR burden and its relevance
• Define key epidemiological concepts related to burden
• Use AMR/AMU surveillance data for monitoring and decisions
• Apply and critique methods for measuring AMR economic burden
• Outline the benefits and costs of One Health strategies to mitigate AMR's effects
• Communicate burden and economic evidence

  Target Audience

Graduate / professional (public health, veterinary, environmental health, pharmacy).

  Prerequisites

• Basic epidemiology and biostatistics

  Recommended Readings

• Gunarathna, S.; Hwang, Y.; Lee, J.-S. Existing Evidence from Economic Evaluations of Antimicrobial Resistance — A Systematic Literature Review. Antibiotics 2025, 14, 1072. https://doi.org/10.3390/antibiotics14111072
• Painter C, Faradiba D, Chavarina KK, et al. Correction: A systematic literature review of economic evaluation studies of interventions impacting antimicrobial resistance. Antimicrobial Resistance and Infection Control. 2023 Sep;12(1):108. DOI: 10.1186/s13756-023-01314-z.