As a microbiologist, I have an up-close view of the antimicrobial resistant bacteria that threaten human lives every day.

My focus is to identify organisms that cause infection, determine if they are resistant to antimicrobials and confirm if there’s a drug that will work. Experts predict that AMR may one day cause more deaths than cancer does today. I am determined to not see that happen, and this is why I am always vigilant against AMR. Because all of us need to be resistance fighters.

As a specialist in infectious diseases, I know that even routine medical procedures can become life-threatening for my patients because of AMR.

This is why I insist on ordering the right diagnostic tests to determine whether an infecting organism is resistant and which drugs will work, as well as ensuring tight adherence to infection control protocols. Because all of us need to be resistance fighters.

As a hospital pharmacist, I know that inappropriate use of antimicrobials can create life-threatening risks for patients and reduce the effectiveness of new and existing drugs.

This is why I work closely with medical and laboratory teams to ensure patient treatment decisions are based on timely diagnostic tests that accurately identify infectious pathogens. Because all of us need to be resistance fighters.

As a primary care physician, I see many patients with a fever who expect to receive an antibiotic.

But antibiotics cannot cure a viral infection and antibiotic misuse contributes to the spread of AMR, which can be life-threatening for my patients. This is why I insist on getting an accurate diagnostic to guide my antimicrobial prescribing and why I support the efforts to combat AMR. Because all of us need to be resistance fighters.

As an infection control practitioner, I realize most patients don’t know that common bacteria, including resistant organisms that may be present on their own skin, can cause life-threatening infections after undergoing surgery.

This is why I ensure careful adherence to patient skin preparation and other protocols to reduce infections associated with surgery or other invasive procedures. Because all of us need to be resistance fighters.

Heading 6

My focus is to identify organisms that cause infection, determine if they are resistant to antimicrobials and confirm if there’s a drug that will work. Experts predict that AMR may one day cause more deaths than cancer does today. I am determined to not see that happen, and this is why I am always vigilant against AMR. Because all of us need to be resistance fighters.

AMR is a serious problem in Kenya and the Ministry of Health takes this problem seriously.

One of the key problems is the procurement of antibiotics over the counter. Anyone can access antibiotics without necessarily having a prescription from the doctor. This unsupervised consumption of antibiotics contributes to antibiotic resistance. But there are many other drivers for AMR and we need to address them holistically and at every healthcare facility. We need robust policies. These changes must happen not only at the national level but also at the county and community level. Because all of us need to be resistance fighters.

Heading 2

My focus is to identify organisms that cause infection, determine if they are resistant to antimicrobials and confirm if there’s a drug that will work. Experts predict that AMR may one day cause more deaths than cancer does today. I am determined to not see that happen, and this is why I am always vigilant against AMR. Because all of us need to be resistance fighters.

Heading 3

My focus is to identify organisms that cause infection, determine if they are resistant to antimicrobials and confirm if there’s a drug that will work. Experts predict that AMR may one day cause more deaths than cancer does today. I am determined to not see that happen, and this is why I am always vigilant against AMR. Because all of us need to be resistance fighters.

Heading 4

My focus is to identify organisms that cause infection, determine if they are resistant to antimicrobials and confirm if there’s a drug that will work. Experts predict that AMR may one day cause more deaths than cancer does today. I am determined to not see that happen, and this is why I am always vigilant against AMR. Because all of us need to be resistance fighters.

Heading 5

My focus is to identify organisms that cause infection, determine if they are resistant to antimicrobials and confirm if there’s a drug that will work. Experts predict that AMR may one day cause more deaths than cancer does today. I am determined to not see that happen, and this is why I am always vigilant against AMR. Because all of us need to be resistance fighters.

Heading 6

My focus is to identify organisms that cause infection, determine if they are resistant to antimicrobials and confirm if there’s a drug that will work. Experts predict that AMR may one day cause more deaths than cancer does today. I am determined to not see that happen, and this is why I am always vigilant against AMR. Because all of us need to be resistance fighters.

Our mother Peggy was a healthy, vibrant, 56-year-old kindergarten teacher when she was struck with a Clostridium difficile infection in April 2010.

Following a normal root canal, our mother was prescribed a powerful antibiotic for prophylaxis. A few days into the course of antibiotics, she came down with diarrhea. When it failed to resolve, we took her to the hospital assuming she had a virus or parasite and needed hydration. Despite the best efforts of the medical team using the strongest antibiotics they had, 36 hours later she was dead. We started the Peggy Lillis Foundation in our mother’s memory. Because all of us need to be resistance fighters.

It seems strange to call myself a “resistance fighter” since I spend most of my life promoting peace and aiding those affected by conflict and violence.

But refugees and forced migrants are highly vulnerable to antimicrobial resistance, so I pledge to inform them of this danger through ICMC’s primary healthcare and hygiene education programs. We cannot allow refugees and forced migrants to face the risk of a new threat—that of AMR. Because all of us need to be resistance fighters.

At FIND, we drive product development and delivery to address antibiotic overuse.

Our established R&D portfolio includes diagnostics that can tell us who actually needs antibiotics and which ones will be most effective. Beyond our extensive work in diagnostics of fever, we are expanding into gonorrhea and UTIs—common diseases in which AMR is a particular challenge—partnering with industry, academia, donors and governments to translate R&D advances into impactful interventions. Besides the critical R&D gaps that must be filled, there are also significant access barriers to overcome. Implementing an end-to-end solution bridging science, diagnostic use, communities and patients is the only way we will beat AMR. Because all of us need to be resistance fighters.

There are compelling economic and health arguments for addressing AMR.

Simply stated, the cost of treating tuberculosis is minuscule compared to treating somebody with drug-resistance. We need rapid diagnostics that can quickly diagnose whether the person has a viral, bacterial or resistant infection. If I was an investor today, I would look at companion diagnostics for antibiotics in development. AMR requires a multi-faceted approach but diagnostics is the door that can really open up the potential to reverse the AMR threat. We need governments, industry, investors, and healthcare systems to attack it. Because all of us need to be resistance fighters.

AMR is a threat to the human race.

Nowhere is this truer than in my home country of Nigeria. The recent emergence of multidrug-resistant organisms has led to increased mortality and economic burden. Prescription monitoring is poor and antimicrobials are routinely sold over-the-counter–encouraging the misuse and overuse of drugs that lead to resistance. AMR must be overcome to combat infectious disease. I work daily with GBCHealth and our corporate partners to advocate for the importance of appropriate stewardship, prevention and R&D for new tools to fight against AMR. Because all of us need to be resistance fighters.

Animals are precious to our Maasai tribe, but I never expected I would contract zoonotic tuberculosis (TB) from our staple foods—un-boiled milk, rare meat and blood.

I was treated with a wide range of antibiotics due to misdiagnosis until I was finally admitted to Nairobi hospital where lab tests confirmed TB. The seven months of anti-TB drugs and month of injections changed me forever. I since started an NGO to educate communities on TB. We collect sputum from suspected patients, educate on the importance of getting tested and counsel on treatment adherence. Additionally, we help build windows in our Maasai manyattas (huts) to ensure proper ventilation, which helps prevent the spread of TB. Because all of us need to be resistance fighters.

I believe that governments must make AMR a priority both at a national and global level based on principles of shared responsibility and global solidarity.

There is a need to invest in training, education and scaling diagnostics not only at a country level but also at a regional level. We need global laboratory networks to identify and share the resistance data. Resistant bugs can transcend borders and therefore I say that there is a need for collective action because patients depend on us. Governments, health agencies, industry and civil society should all work together. Because all of us need to be resistance fighters.

As Chair of the Global Sepsis Alliance, I understand the critical nature of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Sepsis, the most serious complication of infection, is, absent appropriate and timely clinical management, almost universally fatal. To help combat its spread, the WHO has issued an important resolution, Improving the Prevention, Diagnosis and Clinical Management of Sepsis. It urges all UN Member States to secure access to effective antimicrobials and to use them responsibly. We know that delayed, incomplete and ineffective therapies contribute to the increasing threat of antimicrobial resistance, so we encourage every effort to improve prevention, early diagnosis and appropriate treatment. Because all of us need to be resistance fighters.

After my daughter Erin died of sepsis, I founded the Sepsis Alliance to save lives by raising awareness of sepsis as a medical emergency.

Sepsis is the body’s life-threatening response to infection and is treated mainly with antibiotics. Antimicrobial resistant (AMR) infections make sepsis treatment more difficult, if not completely ineffective. The current global sepsis death toll is unacceptable at approximately 8 million victims yearly. If we lose the effectiveness of antibiotics, that number will be catastrophically surpassed. I’m fighting for a world where no one is harmed by sepsis, and raising AMR awareness is part of that fight. Because all of us need to be resistance fighters.

When I arrived at the hospital for a cut on my leg in 2013, I thought I would be treated, healed and sent home good as new.

Instead, I contracted C. difficile, which was the start of a struggle with my health that continued for many years. In the first week of contraction, I lost 15% of my body mass and almost lost my life. I became determined to do something to prevent the transmission of this devastating, sometimes resistant, bacteria. Partnering with a multidisciplinary team at Vancouver Coastal Health, we developed a successful C. difficile canine scent detection program. Now, we search hospitals everyday with our trusted companions, including Angus, who use their super sniffers to detect the bacterium and help identify gaps in infection control and prevention practices. Because all of us need to be resistance fighters.

I was a healthy 25-year-old newlywed when an antimicrobial-resistant infection turned my life upside down.

In extreme pain, I went to an emergency room where I was misdiagnosed with a strep infection, treated with antibiotics and sent home. In no time, the infection moved to my lungs and landed me in the ICU. Different doctors then diagnosed my condition as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a very difficult staph infection for which the initial antibiotic no longer worked. After quarantine and many weeks of treatment, I was released. We never did learn how I got the infection. Today, I live with a chronic cough and the reality that the infection might return. And while I survived, 700,000* people die every year around the world from incurable infections—and this is getting worse rather than better. AMR is a ticking time bomb. I support the effort to raise awareness so you, and your family, never face what I have been enduring. Because all of us need to be resistance fighters.

* The Review on Antimicrobial Resistance Chaired by Jim O’Neill. Antimicrobial resistance: Tackling a crisis for the health and wealth of nations. 2014.

It seems strange to call myself a “resistance fighter” since I spend most of my life promoting peace and aiding those affected by conflict and violence.

But refugees and forced migrants are highly vulnerable to antimicrobial resistance, so I pledge to inform them of this danger through ICMC’s primary healthcare and hygiene education programs. We cannot allow refugees and forced migrants to face the risk of a new threat—that of AMR. Because all of us need to be resistance fighters.