Tackling the growing threat of dangerous microbes becoming resistant to the medicines that keep sick humans and animals alive has made partners of the medical and veterinarian communities, says Marc Ouellette of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.The emphasis now is on stewardship in both sectors as they try to preserve the effectiveness of the remaining antimicrobial medicines while new drugs and treatments are developed, says Ouellette, Scientific Director of the CIHR Institute of Infection and Immunity. “There's a lot of commonality in the livestock and human health medicine.”Concern that the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) to available medicines will become the leading cause of death among humans by 2050 surpassing cancer has spurred global action affecting livestock producers and humans.While new medicines will help once they're approved, Ouellette said the focus is on using alternate treatments to halt the spread of diseases and reduce overall infections, he said.The week of Nov. 13-9 was international World Antibiotic Awareness Week and its theme was, “Seek advice from a qualified healthcare professional before taking antibiotics.” That applies to livestock, companion animals and humans, he said.During that week, Health Canada took several long-promised steps toward implementing its Pan-Canadian Framework to combat AMR by formally limiting the use of human crucial medicines in agriculture production, following up on announcements made more than a year ago. Producer organizations had already moved to curb their use.Under the Framework, farmers will no longer be able to import antimicrobial drugs to treat sick livestock although they will still be able to bring in limited quantities of medicines the Department has determined do not pose a risk to human health or food safety.At the same time, manufacturers can import and sell low-risk veterinary health products, such as vitamin and mineral supplements, for companion and food-producing animals. These treatments can keep animals healthy and may reduce the need for antimicrobials, the department said.In the past five years, CIHR has invested more than $107 million to better understand how microbes become resistant to treatment and what to deal with that development. It has funded research on advanced innovations to help distinguish bacterial from viral infections and identify AMR pathogens as well as identify the appropriate use of antibiotics.Successfully curbing AMR “will ultimately depend on continued investment in research about how resistance works, the interventions that can mitigate it, improved diagnostics, and new antibiotics or alternatives to take the place of drugs that are no longer effective.“AMR is as much a social challenge as it is biomedical challenge and it is critical that we invest in both social and biomedical innovations,” it said. “AMR is a common challenge, just like climate change.”Ouellette said AMR has been able to gain ground because there have been no new medicines in decades to deal with the infections and diseases. “There are some in the pipeline now.” Developing a new drug is a costly enterprise and if one is developed, it tends to become the treatment of last resort, which the drug doesn't sell enough to cover the development costs.“Now we are focused on some molecules while protecting the medicines we have,” he said. That's why the focus is on prevention and alternate treatments. Educating the public about the issue is also a crucial step.Tackling AMR has focused the medical spotlight on the international movement known as One Health, he said. Under it, the health of humans, animals and the environment are equally important and closely linked.Alex Binkley is a freelance journalist and writes for domestic and international publications about agriculture, food and transportation issues. He's also the author of two science fiction novels with more in the works.