Published by AMR Now • October 2026
Traditional medicine often operates in silos, focusing on human illness in isolation. Yet the emergence, transmission, and environmental resilience of antimicrobial-resistant pathogens cross all species boundaries.
The Three Pillars of One Health
The One Health concept recognizes that human health, animal health, and ecosystem integrity are intimately connected. Antimicrobials utilized in agriculture, livestock rearing, companion animal care, and human hospitals eventually meet in shared soils and waterways.
People • Animals • Plants • Environment
1. Human Healthcare
Hospitals and outpatient clinics must enforce stringent infection prevention and control (IPC) protocols, alongside diagnostic testing before prescribing broad-spectrum antibiotics.
2. Veterinary & Agricultural Stewardship
In many regions, over 70% of medically important antimicrobials are administered to healthy livestock for prophylaxis and growth promotion. Ending routine sub-therapeutic administration and enforcing strict withdrawal periods are essential to protect the human food supply.
3. Environmental & Sanitation Oversight
Untreated hospital effluent and agricultural runoff carry active pharmaceutical compounds and resistant bacteria into freshwater rivers and aquifers. Improving wastewater sanitation halts environmental gene-swapping between bacteria.
Building Multisectoral Coalitions
At AMR Now, our youth-led multidisciplinary network brings together future clinicians, pharmacists, veterinarians, laboratory scientists, environmentalists, and journalists. Only through synchronized, cross-disciplinary education can sustained behavioral transformation occur.