Decades of misuse have driven a sharp increase in the development of organisms that are resistant to life-saving antimicrobial medications. The World Health Organization now considers antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to be among the top 10 greatest threats to global health.[i] More people die, each year, globally, due to drug-resistant infections, than to HIV, AIDS and Malaria, combined.[ii] Like most global public health threats, AMR also disproportionately impacts underserved populations, with Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia experiencing the highest AMR-related mortalities.
BD has been named to Fortune’s list of companies that are Changing the World , in recognition of our global efforts and investments to combat AMR. BD is a member of multiple industry forums, partnerships and cross-sector consortiums that are committed to driving policy change and developing programs to address AMR.
Learn more about how BD is fighting AMR.
- To teach laboratory workers in low- and middle-income countries understand how to best use diagnostic testing to advance antimicrobial stewardship, BD collaborated with London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to develop a Massive Open Online Course on AMR and diagnostics. The course was designed with advisory consultation from 11 country governments and five non-profit organizations, and is now available to lab workers, free of charge, worldwide.
- To help build the capacity of laboratories in low- and middle-income countries to address AMR, BD partnered with the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics to jointly develop and deploy the AMR Scorecard for Lab Quality Improvement. The scorecard uses step-by-step methodology to assess AMR-related lab capabilities, and then provides targeted training to help labs close the gaps. The scorecard has been piloted in several countries Africa and in India, with further expansion to come. BD is partnering with The Fleming Fund to strengthen laboratory systems in 16 developing and emerging countries, through the rollout of equipment, reagents and training.
- Understanding of the essential need for AMR awareness, BD facilitates the global Antimicrobial Resistance Fighter Coalition, which creates and shares podcasts, social media content, and educational tools that highlight researchers, scientists, healthcare providers and other advocates who are finding creative ways to combat AMR. BD also sponsored the launch of The Silent Pandemic, a documentary which explores the global fight against AMR and how countries, scientists, and private initiatives around the world are searching for solutions to global AMR pandemic.
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[i] https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/antimicrobial-resistance; accessed 11/3/2023
[ii] Global burden of bacterial antimicrobial resistance in 2019: a systematic analysis. Lancet. 2022;399(10325):629-655.