Respiratory infections this winter have added stress to our already strained healthcare system. Hospitalizations have increased, and the demand for medications, particularly for children, have surpassed the availability. Recently, when my friend’s young child was prescribed antibiotics, she was unable to find a pharmacy that had the medication that her son needed. In her fear and frustration, she declared that her lack of access to this medicine made her feel as if she and her children were living in a pre-antibiotic world.
While we are obviously in a world where tools such as antibiotics and antimicrobials exist, limited availability of such only highlights their importance. Edited by Steven J. Hoffman, Kevin Outterson, and Susan Rogers Van Katwyk, this supplemental issue of JLME further illustrates the value of these resources and argues that antimicrobial resistance should be included in pandemic preparedness plans. The papers in this collection take a multidisciplinary approach with perspectives from law, anthropology, history, public health, public policy, economics, and veterinary medicine. Given the importance of this topic, we are especially pleased that this collection of articles is open-access.
As this supplement and our regular issue also mark the final papers of our publication’s 50th year, we hope that you enjoy reading this work and look forward to bringing you more in the new year.
