Antimicrobial resistance is as dangerous as a pandemic



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Global antimicrobial resistance, as dangerous as a pandemic, threatens to undo a century of medical progress, the World Health Organization has warned.

This resistance occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites resist under the influence of drugs, including antibiotics, which makes infections more difficult to treat and increases the risk of spreading disease, severe infection and death, AFP reports. , quoted by Agerpres.

On the occasion of World Antimicrobial Treatment Week, the World Health Organization, in partnership with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health, launched a group of high level “charged with combating the drug resistance crisis. is heightened.” Led by Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and his Barbados counterpart Mia Mottley, the group will consist of heads of state, ministers, heads of companies and organizations of the civil society.

“Antimicrobial resistance (treatments) may not seem as urgent as a pandemic, but it is just as dangerous,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a news conference.

It is “one of the greatest health threats of our time, threatening to undo a century of medical progress and leave us defenseless against infections that can be easily treated today,” he said.

Antimicrobials are essential weapons against human, animal and plant diseases. They include antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals, and antiparasitics.

But a number of factors, including overuse of drugs by humans, animals, and agriculture, along with inadequate access to clean water, sanitation and hygiene, have amplified the threat of antimicrobial resistance worldwide, notes the WHO. .

“Although antibiotics are a key element, antimicrobial resistance also includes drug resistance against HIV, malaria, neglected tropical diseases and others,” Tedros said.

Publisher: Monica Bonea

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