Author: Francisca Mutapi, Professor in Global Health Infection and Immunity. and co-Director of the Global Health Academy, University of Edinburgh

A major health challenge of our time is when drugs no longer work to treat infections. This happens when the agents that cause infections – they may be bacteria, viruses or fungi – become resistant to the drugs. Antimicrobials are a broad range of medications that act on microbes – like bacteria, fungi, viruses, or parasites. Antibiotics, for instance, are one type of antimicrobial working against bacteria. Resistance to antimicrobial drugs therefore makes it difficult to treat and prevent a wide range of infections. Antibiotic resistance compromises public health programmes, such as TB treatments. It can also compromise other medical…