The timing is stark. At the same time we were combing through the budget papers for absent AMR initiatives, public health officials across Australia were working to contain an outbreak of the bacterial infection, diphtheria.
With cases numbering over 240 across the country, mainly in remote Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory and Western Australia, it is the biggest outbreak since records began. Usually treated by penicillin or erythromycin, resistance has been reported, the extent to which remains largely unknown.
This follows hard on the heels of the 2025 melioidosis outbreak in Queensland which saw 261 cases and 37 deaths, and another 73 cases and seven deaths so far this year.
Two major bacterial outbreaks in two years. And two years since the last dedicated AMR budget measure expired.
Investment in AMR action is overdue!
Australian Antimicrobial Resistance Network (AAMRNet) put forward a package of sensible, cost-effective initiatives aligned with recommendations in key Australian Government reports; practical measures designed to save lives and protect Australia’s health and economic security from the worsening AMR pandemic.
In an update to Members out today, AAMRNet has reiterated it will keep pushing so we don’t go a third year without any AMR budget measures.