Drug-resistant bacteria are becoming a grave concern. The UN World Health Organizations (WHO) has recently warned that the deaths caused by infections from antibiotic-resistant bacteria will skyrocket over the next two decades.
In a new report, the UN Ad hoc Interagency Coordinating Group on Antimicrobial Resistance warned that drug-resistant infections can cause up to 10 million deaths every year by 2050 if no action is taken.
The said diseases will cause damage to the economy and will be as disastrous as the 2008-2009 global financial crisis. By 2030, antimicrobial resistance can push up to 24 million people into extreme poverty.
Currently, at least 700,000 people are losing their lives every year because of drug-resistant diseases. These people include 230,000 who die from multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.
Common diseases including respiratory and urinary tract infections along with sexually transmitted infections, which are becoming untreatable. The report further reveals that the life-saving medical procedures are becoming risky and food systems have become precarious.
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People are already facing health and economic consequences, as critical medicines have become ineffective. If the countries in all income brackets do not do anything about it, the future generations will fall victim to the catastrophic impacts of uncontrolled antimicrobial resistance.
The report calls for a coordinated, multisectoral ‘One Health’ approach while pointing out that human, food, animal, and environmental health are closely interspersed.
The report recommends that countries should:
Via: APP