T he World Health Organization (WHO) has identi f ied antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as one of the biggest global health threats facing humanity. As bacteria evolve and become resistant to existing antibiotics, the challenge of AMR is growing. Some estimates suggest that without reversing this trend, AMR could lead to 10 million deaths each year by 2050, a significant disruption to common surgical and medical interventions and a further 24 million people driven into extreme poverty.
AMR is also estimated to lead to a global annual GDP loss of between 1.1% and 3.8% by 2050, with an annual shortfall of up to $3.
4 trillion by 2030. In 2019 , there were 15,700 deaths attributable to AMR and 56,700 deaths associated with AMR in the Philippines. Our country has the 128 th highest age-standardized mortality rate per 100,000 population associated with AMR across 204 countries.
To avert the threat of AMR, we need to ensure that we have a continuous pipeline that delivers new, innovative antibiotics to treat patients with infections that have become resistant to existing antibiotics. These new antibiotics should be used carefully and should be available to patients wherever in the world they live. Unfortunately, the current antibiotic pipeline is not sufficient to protect against increasing AMR, according to a new report by the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA).
Entitled “From resistance to resilience: What could the future antibiotic p.