Improving equitable access for effective antibacterial: an ecosystem approach

Antibiotics are indispensable to modern healthcare, yet their equitable access remains a pressing global challenge. Factors contributing to inequities include insufficient evidence for optimal clinical use, limited registration, pricing for Reserve antibiotics, and supply chain challenges. These issues disproportionately affect low- and middle-income countries, exacerbating antimicrobial resistance burdens.

This paper explores the multifaceted dimensions of inequitable antibiotic access and proposes a comprehensive framework to address the crisis.

Published articles, grey literature analysis, and the authors' own expertise contributed to this article.

While much attention has been paid to push-and-pull incentives for antibiotic development, these interventions are inadequate to reach sustainable and equitable access to antibiotics. Improving equitable antibiotic access requires an ecosystem approach, involving multiple stakeholders and including public-private partnerships. The paper advocates for initiatives spanning research and development, regulatory pathways, procurement strategies, and financing mechanisms and suggests concrete interventions in each of these areas. The specific interventions and mix of public and private actors may vary according to antibiotic, market, and health system context, but must be designed to meet public health needs while also supporting a market that will sustain quality-assured production and delivery of antibiotics.

Addressing the challenge of equitable antibiotic access requires coordinated efforts across sectors and regions. By embracing an ecosystem approach centred on public health priorities, stakeholders can pave the way for a sustainable supply of antibiotics, and equitable access, safeguarding the future of global healthcare amidst the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance.