The role of medical technologies in the fight against Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infections

AMR is a major global public health threat, which risks us going back to a ‘pre-antibiotic era’, where patients could die from simple bacterial infections and life-saving treatments can no longer be performed safely. Across the EU, about 33 000 people die each year from drug-resistant infections (ECDC). Worldwide, this number will increase to 10 million by 2050, according to the UK AMR Review (2016). Not only will this impact patient safety and recovery, but AMR also puts a heavy burden on the economy due to loss of income and productivity, as well as informal care requirements.

Medical technologies (medical devices and in-vitro diagnostics) can play a part in preventing and controlling resistance in four distinct ways:

1. Preventing and containing healthcare-associated infections and the development and spread of resistant bacteria in healthcare settings to manage antimicrobial resistance.
2. Detecting and identifying bacterial infections and their susceptibility to medication, therefore avoiding the misuse or overuse of antibiotics.
3. Monitoring and tracking resistance and enabling patient compliance to the appropriate use of antibiotics.
4. Outbreak management and surveillance to track, contain and prevent the spread of pathogens at local, hospital, regional, national and international level.