After the Pandemic, slow motion tsunami of AMR now
MUMBAI, July 11, 2020 (Samachar Network): Even as the world recorded 1.2 crore cases in a single day yesterday, WHO has warned of slow motion tsunami of growing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) crisis.
Despite the rise in resistant infections, the research and development of new antibiotics has not caught up, WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
Unless we take quick and sustained action, we risk a doomsday global scenario where common injuries and illnesses return to become major killers, Dr Tedros said addressing a virtual global media meet yesterday.
Whether it’s COVID-19 or AMR, the best shot we have is to work together in national unity and global solidarity, he said and observed: The AMR Action Fund aims to tackle this by strengthening and accelerating the research and development of antibiotics through game-changing investments into biotechnology companies around the world.
He said COVID cases have more than doubled during the last six weeks and across all walks of life, we are all being tested to the limit. For those in poverty, with little or no access to quality health services, it’s not only COVID-19 that threatens lives and livelihoods. Other diseases like measles, polio and malaria all thrive when immunization is paused and supply chains for medical supplies are interrupted.
WHO, however, continues to work with partners to ensure that the poorest and most marginalized are prioritized. That means restarting routine immunization and ensuring that medical supplies reach health workers across the world.
There’s a lot of work still to be done, Dr Tedros said.
