Key points

• The WHO describes antibiotic resistance as a ‘major threat’, with drug-resistant infections killing over 25,000 people each year in the European Union
• Without a global and multi-faceted response, an increasing number of previously treatable infectious diseases will become life-threatening conditions  

Our calls to action

• Investment in initiatives to promote hand hygiene
• Campaigns to increase understanding of the appropriate use of antibiotics
• Greater utilisation of the wider public health workforce to support patient compliance with medicines