World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks at a summit in Saudi Arabia. WHO chief calls for ‘protecting medicines that protect people’ Health
The world is facing a crisis of antimicrobial resistance, said World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a summit in Saudi Arabia that opened on Friday. The fourth high-level global meeting on antimicrobial resistance is taking place in Jeddah.
“Antimicrobial resistance doesn’t just threaten to make the medicines we depend on less effective,” said Dr. Tedros. “It’s already happening.” According to him, 1.3 million people die each year from superbugs.
The head of WHO is convinced that action to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is now as urgent as action to combat climate change. The Political Declaration on AMR, agreed by the UN General Assembly in September this year, Dr Tedros recalled, sets clear goals, and the challenge now is to translate this into concrete action.
The head of WHO identified three priorities for implementing the declaration: increasing sustainable funding from both domestic and international sources, stepping up research, development and innovation, and expanding equitable access to quality antimicrobials.
Antimicrobial resistance occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites stop responding to them. This type of drug resistance renders antibiotics and other antimicrobials ineffective and makes it difficult or impossible to treat infections. It can lead to the emergence of superbugs that cannot be controlled with existing medicines.
Speaking in Jeddah, Dr Tedros called on all stakeholders to seize the opportunity of the conference to accelerate action on AMR, commit to stronger collaboration and “protect the medicines that protect people.”