The WHO policy package to combat antimicrobial resistance

To bring international attention to a growing public health threat, the World Health Organization (WHO) selected antimicrobial resistance as the theme for World Health Day 2011. Antimicrobial resistance is a threat to all branches of medical and public health practice. It challenges the control of infectious diseases, jeopardizes progress on health outcomes by increasing morbidity and mortality and imposes huge costs on societies. In the European Union, about 25000 patients die each year from infections caused by selected multidrug-resistant bacteria and the associated costs are estimated at about 1.5 billion euros per year.