It is estimated that resistant infections will kill 10 million people per year by 2050, more than cancer.
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Member States have on Wednesday agreed upon a strong political declaration that provides a good basis for the worldwide community to move forward.
Meanwhile the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) is providing scientific advice to risk managers on the risks to human and animal health related to the spread and transfer of resistance in the food chain and in animals.
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.
A recent report from the United Kingdom estimated that antibiotic resistant infections are on track to outpace cancer as a leading cause of death globally by 2050.
Farmers around the world are becoming more reliant on antibiotics to raise their livestock and grow their crops which could lead to inadequate food supplies in the world. “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”.
The statement also highlighted some of the commitments made by world leaders in tackling AMR.
Improving antimicrobial resistance monitoring and reporting, so we can accurately identify issues and track progress against resistance.
According to Dr. Margaret Chan, Director General of the World Health Organization, “the commitments need to be translated into rapid, effective and able to save lives in the areas of human, animal and environmental”. “The global pharmaceutical industry is on the crest of this wave, and today we have underlined our role as key player in the fight against drug resistance and in preventing the rise of the superbug”, said Dr Virginia Acha, executive director, Research, Medical, Innovation.
Drug-resistant pathogens have flourished because of overuse and misuse of antibiotics and other antimicrobial drugs used in humans, animals and crops, as well as the spread of residues from these medicines in the soil, crops and water.
“AMR (antimicrobial resistance) is a problem not just in our hospitals, but on our farms and in our food, too”.
Some critics say the declaration falls short because it lacks firm commitments to getting antibiotics out of agriculture and for funding new drugs.
Most of us would not associate this scenario with “modern medicine”, but it is a tragic reality for the ranks of people – 500,000 and growing – suffering from multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis.
The declaration recognizes the size of the problem and encourages countries to develop plans to cut back on antibiotic use, make better use of vaccines and fund development of new drugs to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which now claims the lives of an estimated 700,000 people each year and is expected to rise sharply.
Leaders at the UN meeting called on WHO, FAO and OIE, in collaboration with the World Bank and other relevant stakeholders, to coordinate their planning and actions and to report back to the UN General Assembly in September 2018. A report from Quartz showed that the U.S. Countries need to create ways to monitor the use of antibiotics in medicine and agriculture, start curbing that use and begin developing new antibiotics that work.
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Earlier this month, G20 leaders committed to exploring how best to stimulate research and the development of new antimicrobial products, as it is widely recognised that the current commercial model does not encourage activity in this area.
