The lack of access to safe and effective antibiotics is a threat to global health security and contributes to the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) [1–3]. Increasingly common, shortages of antibiotics are an additional threat, hindering effective antimicrobial stewardship programmes (AMS) [4]. In a recent review of existing National Action Plans for AMR, we described the lack of clear objectives for responding to the need to ensure robust, stable, and quality assured antibiotics [5]. The threat of antibiotic drug shortages impacts low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) and high-income countries (HICs) [6–8]. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the fragility of existing supply chain systems and the risk of antibiotic agents being struck off the manufacturing priorities of pharmaceutical companies [9,10].
Authors
Avaneesh Kumar Pandey, Jennifer Cohn, Vrinda Nampoothiri, Uttara Gadde, Amrita Ghataure, Ashish Kumar Kakkar, Yogendra, Kumar Gupta, Samir Malhotra, Oluchi Mbamalu, Marc Mendelson, Anne-Grete Märtson, Sanjeev Singh, Thomas Tängdén, Nusrat Shafiq, Esmita Charani