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Antimicrobial Resistance

Advancing Global Solutions to Antimicrobial Resistance

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is one of the most significant and complex global health challenges affecting the treatment and prevention of infectious diseases. AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, or parasites no longer respond effectively to antimicrobial medicines, making infections more difficult to treat and increasing the risk of transmission, severe disease, disability, and death.

The Universal Conference on Infectious Diseases brings together researchers, clinicians, microbiologists, pharmacologists, public health professionals, laboratory scientists, policymakers, and other experts to discuss emerging evidence, innovative technologies, surveillance strategies, and practical approaches for addressing AMR.

Why Antimicrobial Resistance Matters

AMR can reduce the effectiveness of medicines that are essential for treating infectious diseases and can complicate routine healthcare interventions. Effective antimicrobial treatment is also important for many procedures and therapies in modern medicine.

The scale of the challenge is substantial. WHO estimates that bacterial AMR was associated with more than 4.7 million deaths globally in 2021, while approximately one in six laboratory-confirmed bacterial infections worldwide was resistant to antibiotics in 2023.

The United States also continues to experience a considerable AMR burden. CDC reports that more than 2.8 million antimicrobial-resistant infections occur annually in the United States, with more than 35,000 deaths attributed to these infections based on its 2019 estimates.

These figures demonstrate why AMR requires coordinated action across infection prevention, diagnostics, antimicrobial stewardship, surveillance, research, healthcare, agriculture, and environmental health.

AMR in the Global Health Agenda

The global response to AMR is evolving toward a stronger One Health framework that recognizes the interconnectedness of human, animal, plant, food-system, and environmental health.

In May 2026, the World Health Assembly adopted the updated Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (GAP-AMR) 2026–2036. The plan provides a global framework for coordinated action over the next decade and emphasizes prevention, equitable access to diagnostics and effective antimicrobials, surveillance, innovation, sustainable financing, and multisectoral collaboration.

Global commitments also include a target to reduce deaths associated with bacterial AMR by 10% by 2030, compared with the 2019 baseline, together with targets related to antimicrobial use, surveillance, diagnostics, infection prevention and control, and national AMR action plans.

Surveillance and Evidence-Based AMR Response

Reliable surveillance is essential for identifying resistance patterns, detecting emerging threats, guiding treatment policies, and evaluating interventions.

WHO's Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS) supports standardized collection and analysis of AMR and antimicrobial-use data. The 2025 Global Antibiotic Resistance Surveillance Report analyzed more than 23 million bacteriologically confirmed cases reported by 104 countries in 2023 and examined resistance trends across major infection–pathogen–antibiotic combinations.

The conference will highlight the importance of laboratory capacity, genomic surveillance, data sharing, epidemiological monitoring, and integration of surveillance information into national and international AMR strategies.

Key Scientific Sessions and Sub-Topics

Mechanisms and Molecular Biology of Antimicrobial Resistance

Explore genetic and molecular mechanisms responsible for resistance, including antimicrobial inactivation, target modification, altered permeability, efflux mechanisms, horizontal gene transfer, plasmid-mediated resistance, and the development of multidrug-resistant organisms.

One Health Approach to AMR

Examine the interconnected roles of human health, veterinary medicine, agriculture, food production, and environmental systems in the emergence and transmission of resistant microorganisms.

Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs

Discuss evidence-based approaches for optimizing antimicrobial prescribing and use, including stewardship interventions, clinical decision support, prescribing surveillance, antimicrobial-use measurement, and implementation strategies.

Novel Antimicrobials and Therapeutic Approaches

Explore the discovery and development of new antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and antiparasitic therapies, as well as alternative and adjunctive approaches such as bacteriophages, antimicrobial peptides, antibody-based approaches, and other emerging technologies.

WHO's 2026 target product profiles for new antibacterial agents emphasize development against priority multidrug-resistant infections and incorporate considerations such as efficacy, safety, pharmacokinetics, access, affordability, and public-health need.

Rapid Diagnostics and Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing

Focus on rapid diagnostic technologies, molecular assays, genomic approaches, point-of-care testing, antimicrobial susceptibility testing, and diagnostic strategies that can support timely and appropriate treatment decisions.

Infection Prevention and Control

Examine strategies for preventing healthcare-associated infections and limiting transmission of antimicrobial-resistant organisms through infection prevention and control programs, environmental hygiene, vaccination, WASH interventions, and appropriate use of healthcare technologies.

Genomic Surveillance and AMR Epidemiology

Explore whole-genome sequencing, pathogen genomics, bioinformatics, molecular epidemiology, outbreak investigation, and data-driven surveillance for identifying and tracking resistant pathogens.

Environmental AMR and Antimicrobial Pollution

Address the role of wastewater, pharmaceutical manufacturing, healthcare facilities, agriculture, and other environmental pathways in the persistence and dissemination of antimicrobial-resistant microorganisms and antimicrobial residues. WHO has highlighted the need for stronger approaches to managing antibiotic pollution associated with manufacturing.

AMR in Clinical and Community Settings

Discuss resistance trends affecting hospitals, primary care, community settings, long-term care facilities, and vulnerable populations, with emphasis on prevention, surveillance, diagnostics, and responsible antimicrobial use.

Research, Innovation, Policy, and Global Collaboration

Examine the role of research institutions, governments, healthcare organizations, pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors, funding agencies, and international organizations in developing sustainable AMR solutions.

Who Should Attend?

The Antimicrobial Resistance track is designed for:

  • Infectious disease physicians and clinicians

  • Microbiologists and laboratory scientists

  • Pharmacologists and pharmacists

  • Epidemiologists and public health professionals

  • Researchers and academic scientists

  • Infection prevention and control specialists

  • Antimicrobial stewardship professionals

  • Veterinarians and animal-health researchers

  • Environmental health scientists

  • Biotechnology and pharmaceutical researchers

  • Healthcare administrators and policymakers

  • Government and regulatory representatives

  • Students, research scholars, and early-career professionals

Conference Objectives and Key Takeaways

Participants will have opportunities to:

  • Understand emerging global AMR trends and resistance mechanisms.

  • Explore current approaches to antimicrobial surveillance and epidemiology.

  • Discuss advances in rapid diagnostics and susceptibility testing.

  • Examine antimicrobial stewardship strategies across healthcare settings.

  • Understand the importance of One Health approaches to AMR prevention and control.

  • Explore emerging antimicrobials and alternative therapeutic strategies.

  • Discuss infection prevention, vaccination, WASH, and environmental interventions.

  • Examine genomic and laboratory technologies supporting AMR surveillance.

  • Identify research priorities and opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration.

  • Exchange scientific knowledge and perspectives with professionals working across infectious disease and AMR research.

Join the Antimicrobial Resistance Scientific Community

The Antimicrobial Resistance track at the Universal Conference on Infectious Diseases provides a platform for presenting research, sharing scientific perspectives, discussing emerging evidence, and developing collaborations across disciplines.

Researchers and professionals are invited to contribute original research, reviews, clinical studies, epidemiological investigations, laboratory research, technological innovations, policy analyses, and other relevant scientific work addressing antimicrobial resistance and infectious diseases.

Submit your abstract and participate in the scientific discussion on the future of AMR research, surveillance, prevention, diagnostics, treatment, stewardship, and One Health action.

Important: AMR burden estimates vary by year, pathogen, infection type, geography, and methodology. Statistics on this page should therefore be presented with their source year rather than interpreted as a single current global count.