Socioeconomic Factors Drive AMR

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) may be significantly driven by socioeconomic inequality and living conditions like overcrowding and poor sanitation, rather than solely by antibiotic consumption. This finding emerges from a new study involving researchers from King's College London. The projections indicate that AMR could claim over 39 million lives in the next 25 years.

To combat this growing threat, governments are urged to prioritize structural public health interventions. These include enhancing nutritional status, reducing instances of overcrowding, and bolstering health equity in high-risk regions. The research analyzed more than 45,000 genomes from 127 countries, focusing on critical priority pathogens identified by the World Health Organization.

The study linked global trends with resistance genes to forecast the most likely resistance threats by 2050. Key socioeconomic indicators, alongside mortality rates, show strong correlations with AMR traits. Specifically, 32 critical AMR threats are strongly associated with socioeconomic disparities, suggesting a roadmap for targeted interventions beyond mere antibiotic stewardship.