Claiming 1.27 million deaths in 2019 globally, the global spread of antibiotic resistant bacteria is an ongoing pandemic where the burden falls dispro- portionately on low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Its consequences are far-reaching for the sustainable development of societies and the glo- bal economy. There are no quick fixes – antibiotic resistance is caused by a multiple systems failure and would seriously jeopardize the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Significant progress has been made since the adoption of the Global Action Plan on Antimicro- bial Resistance (AMR)1 in 2015 and many countries have developed their national action plans (NAPs). There has been increasing public awareness, evi- dence, and willingness to act at important policy levels, and yet – given the urgency and the scale of the devastating effects of antibiotic resistance – the mobilization of global and national resources and collective action across countries and among sectors is too slow and insufficient. What are the reasons for this? Do we know what we want to achieve and can we tell a story about how to get there?