Understanding the Economics of Microbial Threats

Microbial threats, including endemic and emerging infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance, can cause not only substantial health consequences but also enormous disruption to economic activity worldwide. While scientific advances have undoubtedly strengthened our ability to respond to and mitigate the mortality of infectious disease threats, events over the past two decades have illustrated our continued vulnerability to economic consequences from these threats. To assess the current understanding of the interaction of infectious disease threats with economic activity and suggest potential new areas of research, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine planned a 1.5-day public workshop on understanding the economics of microbial threats. This workshop built on prior work of the Forum on Microbial Threats and aimed to help transform current knowledge into immediate action. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the workshop. Table of Contents Front Matter 1 Introduction 2 The Economics of Global Health and Microbial Threats 3 The Economic Cost of Endemic Infectious Diseases 4 The Economics and Modeling of Emerging Infectious Diseases and Biological Risks 5 The Cost Dimensions of Antimicrobial Resistance 6 Investing in National Preparedness Initiatives Against Microbial Threats 7 Accelerating Research and Development of Antimicrobial Medical Products 8 Reimagining Sustainable Investments to Counter Microbial Threats 9 Looking to the Future: Potential Next Steps for Using Economics to Manage Microbial Threats 10 Closing Remarks References Appendix A: Workshop Statement of Task Appendix B: Workshop Agenda Appendix C: Biographical Sketches of Workshop Speakers and Moderators