A study published in The Lancet reveals that antibiotic-resistant infections could claim the lives of over 39 million people worldwide in the next 25 years. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which happens when germs defy treatments, is expected to exacerbate, having already accounted for over one million deaths annually from 1990 to 2021. “This threat is growing,” warns Mohsen Naghavi, joint first author and AMR research lead at the University of Washington’s Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation.
The overuse of antibiotics in both humans and animals has fueled bacteria’s resistance to common drugs, complicating treatments and increasing risks associated with surgeries, cesarean sections, and cancer therapies. Despite the United Nations highlighting AMR’s significance during a high-profile 2016 meeting, progress has lagged. Recently, an investor group equated the systemic risk of AMR to that of climate change and biodiversity loss.
Unchecked, AMR could accrue $1 trillion in additional healthcare costs by 2050 and reduce the global GDP by 3.8%, according to a report from last month. “We urgently need new strategies to mitigate the risk of severe infections,” said Stein Emil Vollset, joint first author of the study and affiliate professor at the IHME. Proposed measures include the development of new drugs, enhanced healthcare systems, broader access to existing antibiotics, and targeted guidance on their use.
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Original Story https://www.livemint.com/news/superbugs-death-toll-could-swell-by-millions-over-coming-years-11726527415003.html
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