Antimicrobial resistance

The World Health Organisation has identified antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as one of the biggest health threats we face today1. In 2019 alone, 1.27 million people were estimated to have died from drug-resistant infections, and nearly 5 million deaths were associated with AMR². The number of deaths due to AMR could rise to 10 million people per year by 2050³ :

Vaccination is now recognised to be a cost-effective tool in the fight against AMR, and the WHO published an urgent call for better use of existing vaccines and development of new vaccines to tackle AMR. Immunisation has the capacity to address AMR-related health consequences by preventing deaths and complications, decreasing the prevalence and transmission of resistant pathogens, and reducing the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials. In so doing, vaccination can diminish the healthcare costs associated with AMR, including costly hospitalisations and care related to long-term sequelae.

To successfully address AMR, we need the complementarity of prevention and other tools (such as therapy), with prevention contributing to preserving the benefit and value of antimicrobials. It is crucial to maintain dialogue and commitment among all relevant stakeholders to accelerating the development of new vaccines, as well as improving access and coverage of existing vaccines that address antibiotic-resistant pathogens. To implement this, we call for the following actions.

Strategies for existing vaccines

To reduce the burden of AMR on public health, it is vital to support the uptake of licensed vaccines through:

Awareness raising on the importance of vaccination to improve uptake and coverage and encourage investment in vaccine development.
Immunisation uptake to improve vaccination coverage in all age groups across EU member states by prioritising a life course immunisation approach.
Develop policies that integrate and support prevention in the fight against AMR.
Improve generation and utilisation of real-world healthcare data and develop surveillance systems to monitor the impact of both new and established vaccines on AMR.

Strategies for upcoming vaccines

Create an ecosystem that supports innovation and promotes the development of future vaccines through:

Ensure availability of surveillance platforms assessing the use and misuse of antibiotics for vaccine-preventable infections
Increasing awareness of global and regional priority pathogen lists.
Developing innovative financing mechanisms and incentives for early and late-stage vaccine research.
Increased public funding and support for public-private partnerships to drive R&D and improve access in priority disease areas.
A regulatory framework that provides guidelines and supports streamlined development and authorisation of vaccines against AMR.
Development of vaccine specific HTA methodologies that recognise the value of vaccination against AMR.

AMR cannot be solved by one actor alone. It must be tackled using every available tool, starting with vaccination, which must be integrated into any AMR response at the national, EU and global level. To make this vision a reality, an attractive innovation ecosystem in the EU is required that encourages the uptake of existing vaccines and supports the development of next generation vaccines that address AMR.

[1] Ten threats to global health in 2019, WHO. https://www.who.int/news-room/spotlight/ten-threats-to-global-health-in-2019
[2] Accessed July 2022 https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)02724-0/fulltext#%20 Drug-resistant Infections: A threat to our economic future. Report by World Bank (2017). Accessed July 2022
[3] Drug-resistant Infections: A threat to our economic future. Report by World Bank (2017). Accessed July 2022 https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/323311493396993758/pdf/final-report.pdf