Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is an invisible killer, which is directly responsible for 1.3 million deaths and a contributing factor to five million other fatalities every year. Everyone seems to have had a family member or friend who has either gotten seriously ill or died due to acquiring an infection that did not respond to prescribed medicines, and the underlying reason was often antimicrobial resistance.
Yet, there are many ways of addressing this threat, from hygiene and sanitation to vaccination and avoiding overuse or misuse of medicines. Ahead of the General Assembly's high-level meeting on AMR on 26 September, here's what you need to know: What is AMR? Since their discovery a century ago, antimicrobial medicines, from antibiotics to antivirals, have significantly extended average life expectancy. Every day, these essential medicines save millions of lives, until they don't.
AMR occurs when microorganisms like bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites no longer respond to antimicrobial medicines. As a result of drug resistance, antimicrobial medicines become ineffective and infections become difficult or impossible to treat, increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness, disability and death, according to the UN's World Health Organization (WHO ). Similar to COVID-19 , drug-resistant infections know no borders, and no one is immune.
But, the incidence is higher in low to middle-income countries. WHO: 'It can happen to anyone' Behind every number tracking AMR, t.