Council of the European Union: Next steps to combat antimicrobial resistance

On 17 June, 2016, the Council of the European Union published conclusions on the next steps for the EU to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) under a One Health approach. The role of the Council is to serve as the voice of the EU member governments. The Council welcomes other international and regional initiatives, such as the declaration by the G7 on Antimicrobial Resistance and the decision to put antimicrobial resistance on the agenda of the G20.

In its conclusions to combat AMR, the Council has adopted a One Health approach, which considers the importance of intricate interactions between human, animal, and environmental health in addressing AMR. The conclusions also state the importance of research and development into new antimicrobials, as evidenced by item 16 below, where the Council recognizes the accomplishments of DRIVE-AB in this area:

16. UNDERLINES that in order to stimulate the development of new antimicrobials, alternative therapies and (rapid) diagnostics, EU and global coordination and cooperation on research programmes and incentives are needed and RECOGNISES the work done by the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) project DRIVE-AB (Driving reinvestment in research and development and responsible antibiotic use), the proposals of the Antimicrobial Resistance Review team and the Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance among others.

DRIVE-AB is a publi-private-partnership supported by the the Innovative Medicines Initiative of the EU and developes new economoic models to stimulate antibiotic R&D.