What are antimicrobials?
These drugs include antibiotics for bacteria, antivirals for viruses, antifungals for fungi, and antiparasitics for parasites – are medicines used to prevent and treat infectious diseases in humans, animals and plants. (1)
The most common antimicrobials in use in our public hospitals are antibiotics which include: Amoxicillin, Penicillin, Chloramphenicol, septrin, ceftriaxone, Flucloxacillin, Augmentin, metronidazole, ciprofloxacin and even TB drugs.
These antibiotics are used to treat a variety of infectious illness such as: Upper respiratory, urinary tract and gastrointestinal infections as well as ulcers, wounds etc.
Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites no longer respond to antimicrobial medicines. As a result of drug resistance, antibiotics and other antimicrobial medicines become ineffective and infections become difficult or impossible to treat, increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness, disability and death. (1)
Why does AMR occur?
AMR is a natural process that happens over time through genetic changes in pathogens. Its emergence and spread are accelerated by human activity, mainly the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials to treat, prevent or control infections in humans, animals and plants. (1) AMR results in the development of “superbugs” whose infections are untreatable using standard antibiotic therapy. (2,3)
What is the global AMR crisis?
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is recognized as one of the most urgent rising threats to global human and animal health systems, especially in developing countries.(4) Antimicrobial medicines are the cornerstone of modern medicine.
AMR is a cross-cutting, silent pandemic that is threatening our health security and medical interventions that we take for granted. Maternal, child and reproductive health conditions, common infectious diseases, cancer therapy and life saving surgical interventions such as appendicectomies and caesarean sections will all become more dangerous if antibiotics are no longer effective. (5)
Deaths attributable to AMR every year compared to other major causes of death
It is estimated that bacterial AMR was directly responsible for 1.27 million global deaths in 2019 and contributed to another 4.95 million deaths. (1) It has been further projected that deaths will increase exponentially to 10 million by 2050.(6)
Deaths attributable to AMR every year by 2050
In addition, drug-resistant infections impact the health of animals and plants, reduce productivity in farms, and threaten food security. This has significant costs for both health systems and national economies overall. (1) The World Bank estimates that AMR could result in US$ 1 trillion additional healthcare costs by 2050, and US$ 1 trillion to US$ 3.4 trillion gross domestic product (GDP) losses per year by 2030.(7)
AMR threatens many of the most important medical advances we have made in the last century.
References
1. Antimicrobial resistance [Internet]. [cited 2024 Mar 29]. Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/antimicrobial-resistance
2. Antimicrobial resistance: a global response – PubMed [Internet]. [cited 2024 Apr 6]. Available from: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11953791/
3. Adegoke AA, Faleye AC, Singh G, Stenström TA. Antibiotic Resistant Superbugs: Assessment of the Interrelationship of Occurrence in Clinical Settings and Environmental Niches. Mol Basel Switz. 2016 Dec 27;22(1):29.
4. Magiri R, Gaundan S, Choongo K, Zindove T, Bakare A, Okyere E, et al. Antimicrobial resistance management in Pacific Island countries: Current status, challenges, and strategic solutions. Int J One Health. 2022 Feb 19;1–7.
5. Health and economic impacts of antimicrobial resistance in the Western Pacific Region, 2020–2030 [Internet]. [cited 2024 Apr 6]. Available from: https://www.who.int/publications-detail-redirect/9789290620112
6. de Kraker MEA, Stewardson AJ, Harbarth S. Will 10 Million People Die a Year due to Antimicrobial Resistance by 2050? PLoS Med. 2016 Nov 29;13(11):e1002184.
7. World Bank [Internet]. [cited 2024 Mar 29]. Drug-Resistant Infections: A Threat to Our Economic Future. Available from: https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/health/publication/drug-resistant-infections-a-threat-to-our-economic-future
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