Evaluation of the implementation of the UK 2019-2024 antimicrobial resistance national action plan: summary report

In 2019, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) released the UK Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) National Action Plan (NAP) (1). The NAP outlines ambitions and actions over a five-year period, and supports the UK’s 20-year vision for AMR in line with World Health Organization (WHO) guidance on national antimicrobial policies and follows the previous “UK Five-Year Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy, 2013-2018”. The NAP adopts a One Health approach by including commitments to improve animal health and food safety and to increase the understanding of AMR in the environment. The Policy Innovation and Evaluation Research Unit (PIRU) was commissioned to evaluate the 2019-24 AMR NAP between April 2022 and December 2023. In this report, we summarise our evaluation of the implementation of the NAP’s commitments to lower the burden of human infection, optimal use of antimicrobials in human health care, and development of, and access to diagnostics.