2017 Methodology for the 2018 Antimicrobial Resistance Benchmark

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a widely recognised and growing problem. Without effective antimicrobials, infections become more difficult to treat, while medical and surgical procedures can become high-risk interventions, leading to prolonged sickness, disability and death. AMR already causes more than 700,000 deaths each year worldwide. The push to limit AMR requires a consolidated, concerted effort by multiple stakeholders, including governments, public health authorities, international health organisations, academic institutions and pharmaceutical companies.

There is growing recognition of the need for consensus on the responsibilities of each stakeholder engaged in addressing AMR, as well as the need for new, independent tools for tracking progress. The Access to Medicine Foundation has responded to this need, drawing on its expertise in developing industry metrics related to public health. The Foundation has developed the Antimicrobial Resistance Benchmark, the first independent and public tool for measuring how pharmaceutical companies are responding to AMR.

The goal of the Benchmark is to incentivise pharmaceutical companies to implement effective actions for tackling the problem of AMR. In the coming months, the Foundation will use this methodology to map the responses of a cross-section of the pharmaceutical industry to AMR, benchmarked against the consensus view on where they can and should be making progress.