Antimicrobial resistance requires a One Health approach to research
Antimicrobial resistance cannot be tackled through human medicine alone. This policy brief presents three recommendations for research funding that connect human, animal, plant and environmental health and learn from approaches that have kept antibiotic use low.
Antibiotics, resistant bacteria, and resistance genes circulate among humans, animals, plants, and the wider environment. Despite this, AMR research funding still too often takes human healthcare as its default perspective, with veterinary medicine and environmental science positioned as supplementary rather than central.
In this policy brief, Susanna Sternberg Lewerin, Professor of One Health and AMR at SLU, presents three recommendations for European research funders, policymakers and international organisations:
- Fund research with a genuine One Health perspective.
- Treat all parts of One Health as equal and interconnected.
- Build on successful models and proven experience.
The brief calls for research funding that integrates human, animal, plant and environmental health throughout the research process. It also highlights the importance of learning from countries that have maintained low antibiotic use without compromising health or animal welfare – and of giving their research a meaningful role in shaping research priorities and funding calls.
Author: Susanna Sternberg Lewerin, Professor of One Health and AMR, Department of Biomedical Sciences and Veterinary Public Health, SLU.