Sodiq Ojuroungbe Following the escalating threat of antimicrobial resistance, the World Health Organisation has projected that about 39 million lives may be lost by 2050 if urgent global action is not taken. The WHO’s Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, Dr. Hanan Balkhy, who spoke at the Fourth Global High-Level Ministerial Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance in Saudi Arabia on Friday, noted that AMR is also expected to have severe global consequences, including extreme impacts on overall well-being and economic stability.
Balkhy emphasised that the broader impact of AMR, is not affecting just health, but global well-being, stressing that conflict worsens AMR and makes it even more deadly. The WHO Director further noted that addressing AMR not only saves lives but also requires global peace and stability, as conflicts can exacerbate the toll of AMR. While stressing the need for countries to take action, she added, “39 million people will die of antibiotic resistance between now and 2050, there will also be extreme impacts on the overall well-being of people around the world.
” She maintained that there is a need to ensure access to existing antibiotics and accelerate the development of new ones, which remains critically important. The conference, themed “From Declaration to Implementation – Accelerating Actions Through Multi-Sectoral Partnerships for the Containment of AMR,” focused on enhancing the global response to AMR. This includes strengthenin.
