Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) happens when bacteria, viruses, parasites, fungi develop resistance against medicines that were previously able to cure them.
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To help emphasise the problem, the director general gave a few sobering examples. Studying wastewater represents a critical part of understanding the spread of antibiotic resistance, especially if treated wastewater is used as reclaimed water.
At a presentation on AMR at the Ford Foundation in NY this week, South African Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi criticised the high cost of new drugs to treat multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis.
Resistant strains of bacteria are spreading, threatening to make existing drugs ineffective.
Health advocates, including at the Pew Charitable Trusts, have said they expect many countries will look to the United States to take the lead in determining how best to best tackle resistance.
These trends are undermining hard-won achievements under the Millennium Development Goals, including against HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria and the survival of mothers and children.
“I am very excited by these latest commitments from major pharmaceutical companies to do their bit in the world’s response to drug-resistant infections”, said Jim O’Neill, chair of the UK Antimicrobial Resistance Commission and author of an influential review of the problem commissioned by the UK government.
All 193 United Nation member states agreed in a declaration September 21 to address the growing threat of antibiotic resistance, according to The Guardian. The high-level meeting was convened by the President of the 71st session of the UN General Assembly, H.E. Peter Thomson.
Mr. Ban said in order to create a world that is safer, more healthy and more productive, there was need for deep engagement, cooperation and coordination of several sectors, and sustained financing. The agreement was an exceptional move for the group, which has only taken up three other health issues in the past – HIV, non-communicable diseases and Ebola. “AMR is not a new issue, but it is a multidimensional issue, it has to be addressed at the national level. because no single sector, be it the agriculture sector, the health sector or trade sector can act on its own”.
“Such plans are needed to understand the full scale of the problem and stop the misuse of antimicrobial medicines in human health, animal health and agriculture”, note WHO, FAO and OIE. “But it is a global health threat that needs a global response”. The commitments made on Wednesday must now be translated into swift, effective, lifesaving actions across the human, animal and environmental health sectors.
Diseases that are considered as common, including pneumonia, tuberculosis and urinary tract infections, are becoming more hard to treat, while new superbugs are emerging, the CDC said. Left unchecked, AMR is predicted to have significant social, health security, and economic repercussions that will seriously undermine the development of countries, noted the joint statement.
Companies and farmers often use antibiotics not only to treat sick animals, but to maintain them on a steady diet to prevent illnesses or allow them to grow more quickly. It is considered the greatest and most urgent global risk requiring worldwide and national attention.
A new report published this week (Sept. 20) by the Natural Resources Defense Council shows that in just the past year, the number of U.S. fast food chains that have adopted supply chain policies aimed at reducing the on-farm use of antibiotics for the meat products they sell has doubled. “Encouraging best practice and responsible use of antibiotics, which safeguard animal health and welfare, is a must”, the government report said.
The World Health Organization, World Bank and other entities affiliated with the United Nations will work to pull together a plan of actions and report back to the general assembly in 2018 on ways to fight antimicrobial resistance, a growing global menace.
Countries need to come up with ways to monitor antibiotic use in both agriculture and medicine, begin curbing the use and develop new antibiotics that work.
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At the meeting, governments from around the world agreed to coordinate their collective AMR funding – equating to around £600 million – for maximum impact, and the United Kingdom also committed to further reducing inappropriate prescriptions and the incidence of high risk bacterial infections in hospitals by 50 percent, as well as cutting the level of antibiotic use in the agricultural sector to 50mg/kg by 2020.
