40 key themes have been determined after an assessment of the relevant concerns to determine the research agenda. AMR has long caused WHO worry, and the organisation has frequently warned about it. AMR happens when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites become resistant to antimicrobial drugs and stop responding to them.
Source: Next IAS
This raises the danger of disease transmission, serious sickness, and death and makes infections more difficult to cure. In 2019, it was linked to the deaths of about 5 million people worldwide, making it one of the biggest threats to global public health. Importantly, it poses a risk to the world economy since it will affect productivity, global trade, and healthcare.
If no steps are done to limit AMR, it is predicted that the global economy would suffer a $100 trillion loss by 2050. Some information is more worrisome. India, after China and Pakistan, has the third-highest number of hospital-acquired, antibiotic-resistant illnesses in the world, according to a recent review of cases from 99 nations during the past ten years.
According to the survey, those with middle-class incomes were more adversely affected than others. Modern antibiotics lose their effectiveness against organisms that have built up an immunity to them. This raises the need for more potent and pricey medications. Drugs and resistance form a vicious cycle, making it harder and harder to cure illnesses. The Covid epidemic is thought to have made things worse.
Source: Down To Earth
To address the issue, the WHO has suggested a number of actions. Promoting prudent use of antimicrobial medications, including a decrease in the usage of antibiotics, is the best and most successful course of action. The highest level of duty here is on doctors. There have been attempts to solve the problem, but they have not proven successful.
Antibiotics are available at Indian pharmacies even without a prescription from a physician. In actuality, antibiotic usage has been rising annually. A significant percentage of patients in India may no longer benefit from carbapenem, a potent antibiotic used to treat pneumonia and septicemia, according to an ICMR research. It has been stated that if preventative steps are not implemented, antibiotic resistance might soon manifest as a pandemic. AMR was emphasised in the National Health Policy of 2017, yet nothing has been done to combat it. If AMR is not adequately addressed, India’s public health problems will worsen.
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