Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) causes bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites to no longer respond to antimicrobial medicines, making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death. Antimicrobial resistance poses a worldwide threat to human and animal health, food production and the environment and is a truly global issue that impacts all of humanity. 

World AMR Awareness Week (WAAW) is a global campaign coordinated by the World Health Organisation that takes place from 18-24 November every year. The campaign aims to raise awareness and understanding of AMR and promote best practice amongst stakeholders to reduce the emergence and spread of drug-resistant infections.  

Stopping AMR is a shared responsibility, and this year’s WAAW theme ‘Educate. Advocate. Act now.’ represents a call for the global community to educate stakeholders on AMR, advocate for bold commitments and take concrete actions to stem the spread of AMR. The 2024 United Nations General Assembly High-level Meeting on AMR, which took place in September 2024, saw world leaders commit to these principles of action via a decisive political declaration. 

To mark this WAAW, we would like to share some of the AMR activities the Society has been involved in that related to these actions. 

Educate 

Through our events, webinars, journals, and other activities, we share information and disseminate knowledge on AMR and related fields. Our Biochemistry Focus webinar AMR: the next pandemic? has reached over 1.6k viewers, and explores the challenges in AMR research, R&D funding, and the political issues around AMR action with expert representatives. You can read our AMR themed issue and the latest AMR research and review articles published across our journals, hundreds of which have been published open access. 

Advocate  

Working with partners and external organisations, the Society raises the profile of AMR amongst policymakers and advocates for the role of molecular bioscience research in advancing strategies to combat it. Our organisational position statement on AMR aims to outline our stance to external actors, and we have contributed our views to national public consultations such as the UK Department of Health and Social Care’s AMR National Action Plan. 

Act now 

“The Society is committed to championing awareness of AMR amongst its community and disseminating vital AMR knowledge across all of our activities. This WAAW, we encourage members to learn more about this topic and the ways in which molecular bioscientists are using their expertise towards combating AMR, through fundamental understanding of its mechanisms, development of novel antimicrobials and many other strategies.” 

Dr Derry K Mercer, Honorary Policy Officer 

Further reading 

• Antimicrobial resistance in healthcare, agriculture and the environment: the biochemistry behind the headlines 

• Targeting bacterial degradation machinery as an antibacterial strategy 

• Integrating bacterial molecular genetics with chemical biology for renewed antibacterial drug discovery 

• Combinatorial biosynthesis for the generation of new-to-nature peptide antimicrobials 

• Gliotoxin and related metabolites as zinc chelators: implications and exploitation to overcome antimicrobial resistance