# The 2024 WHO bacterial priority pathogens list: a critical evolution from a global One Health perspective

## TL;DR

The 2024 WHO Bacterial Priority Pathogens List aims to guide global AMR strategies but lacks focus on agricultural and environmental factors.

## Contribution

Highlights the need for a more holistic One Health approach to address AMR beyond human-centric priorities.

## Key findings

- The 2024 WHO BPPL prioritizes 24 bacteria, mainly Gram-negatives and community threats.
- Current surveillance is biased toward high-income countries and lacks cross-sectoral monitoring.
- Incorporating zoonotic and environmental metrics is recommended for a more equitable AMR response.

## Abstract

The 2024 WHO Bacterial Priority Pathogens List (WHO BPPL) is a critical tool for refining global antimicrobial resistance (AMR) strategy, prioritizing 24 bacteria with a focus on Gram-negatives and community threats like Salmonella Typhi. This perspective examines its One Health implications. While the 2024 WHO BPPL effectively guides research and development (R&D), policy, and infection control through vaccines and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) programs, its human-centric approach underrepresents critical agricultural and environmental AMR drivers. Surveillance biases towards high-income countries and the inherent challenges of cross-sectoral monitoring—given the distinct niches of pathogens like Enterococcus faecium and Shigella—further limit its scope. We call for integrating zoonotic and environmental metrics, strengthening global surveillance (e.g., Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System [GLASS]), and accelerating development of novel therapies to advance a more equitable and holistic AMR response.