Introduction

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) continues to escalate as one of the most significant global health challenges of our time, threatening modern medicine, food security, and public health systems worldwide. As the world observes World Antimicrobial Resistance Awareness Week 2025, under the theme “Act Now: Protect Our Present, Secure Our Future,” the International Society for Infectious Diseases (ISID) reflects on a year defined by scientific leadership, strengthened surveillance, regional expansion, and deepened One Health collaboration. Across 2025, ISID worked tirelessly to transform data into decisions and to support communities, governments, researchers, and clinicians in their efforts to monitor, understand, and combat AMR.

ProMED-AMR: Global Early Warning and Surveillance

Central to ISID’s impact, this year has seen the continued growth of ProMED-AMR, the only real-time global early warning system dedicated to antimicrobial resistance.

ProMED-AMR has now generated thousands of alerts since its inception in 2020, covering outbreaks, emerging resistance trends, drug shortages, stewardship challenges, and scientific developments, with thousands of subscribers relying on the network’s rapid, moderator-driven intelligence.

Country-Level AMR Trends & Analyses

These alerts, enriched with contextual commentary from subject matter experts, continue to provide a unique complement to formal laboratory-based reporting, especially in countries where AMR data is delayed or incomplete. ISID’s 2025 work also included country-level analyses, such as a comprehensive assessment of AMR reporting trends in several countries, which consolidated posts since 2020 to highlight patterns in stewardship, molecular characterization, environmental contamination, prescribing behaviours, and surveillance gaps. These efforts reaffirm the value of non-traditional surveillance in shaping national AMR responses.

Regional Partnerships and Capacity Building

The year included multiple high-impact contributions, from AMR engagement

at the University of Venda and participation at the SASVEPM Congress, to new collaborations with regional health communities, veterinary associations, ministries, and research institutions. Through ReAct-Africa and other regional networks, ISID continues to amplify African voices and support the development of contextually relevant AMR strategies grounded in real-world needs.

ISID’s scientific and advocacy leadership was further visible across global platforms. At GAMRIC 2025, ISID highlighted lessons from ProMED-AMR surveillance and One Health research, reinforcing the organization’s contribution to global AMR science. The year also saw ISID engage in high-level policy discussions, building on momentum from the 2024 UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on AMR, where global leaders committed to reducing AMR-related deaths and strengthening cross-sectoral data-sharing. ISID contributed to technical dialogues and public-facing side events, ensuring that surveillance gaps, data inequities, and One Health challenges remain central to global AMR commitments. This was complemented by strong ISID visibility at ESCMID Global, where the organization helped shape discussions on surveillance, stewardship, and innovation.

Innovation remained a key theme throughout 2025, particularly through the Pfizer/ISID Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) Grand Challenge, which attracted over 400 proposals from across sub-Saharan Africa. ISID led the coordination of the expert review process, enabling regional specialists to assess innovative antimicrobial stewardship ideas that could be implemented in diverse human health settings. This initiative reflects ISID’s commitment to empowering researchers, supporting novel stewardship models, and fostering solutions that are scalable and sustainable.

Throughout the year, ISID continued to champion the One Health approach, recognizing that AMR emerges from the interconnectedness of human, animal, plant, and environmental health. Through conferences, policy engagements, and technical forums, including contributions to the One Health discussions at the SAFPVA Conference, ISID emphasized that AMR cannot be addressed by any single sector. Addressing it requires shared governance, coordinated surveillance, joint training, integrated dashboards, and sustained political and financial commitments. The Society continues to advocate for cross-sectoral collaboration as a practical necessity, not just a conceptual framework.

Looking Ahead: The Future of AMR Preparedness

As we look ahead, the global AMR landscape remains sobering. Drug-resistant infections are projected to rise dramatically in the coming decades if no action is taken, undermining decades of progress in infectious disease control. Yet the work of 2025 demonstrates what is possible when science, innovation, political will, and global solidarity converge. ISID remains committed to strengthening early warning systems, advancing One Health capacity, improving access to AMR intelligence, supporting regional leadership, and driving innovation through research and partnership.

This mission, however, requires sustained investment. As ISID commemorates WAAW 2025, we call on partners, donors, and supporters to stand with us in protecting global health. Every contribution helps expand surveillance systems, empower regional scientists, accelerate AMR innovation, and deliver timely intelligence that saves lives. Together, we can preserve the power of antimicrobials for future generations and ensure a safer, healthier world for all.

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