BSAC Vanguard Series: Tracking the global rise of antimicrobial resistance

One of the major challenges for tackling antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is understanding the true burden of resistance and its impact on human health, particularly in locations where surveillance is minimal and data are sparse. The Global Research on AntiMicrobial resistance (GRAM) Project was launched to address these gaps. The scale of the challenge was considerable, but after 4 years of developing a stringent methodological approach and collecting/analysing data from many different sources, the capstone GRAM paper was published in January 2022. This article discusses the key findings and reviews the challenges in scaling-up AMR surveillance systems in a One Health framework. The GRAM Project represents a critical first-step in obtaining the accurate data that are needed to correctly target actions to control AMR.

Automated summary

Understanding the true burden of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and its impact on human health is a major challenge, especially in areas with minimal surveillance and scarce data. The Global Research on Anti-Microbial resistance (GRAM) Project was launched to address these gaps. After 4 years of developing a stringent methodological approach and collecting/analyzing data from various sources, the capstone GRAM paper was published in January 2022. This article discusses the key findings and reviews the challenges of scaling up AMR surveillance systems in a One Health framework.