{"id":104100,"date":"2021-04-30T10:20:58","date_gmt":"2021-04-30T04:50:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=104100"},"modified":"2021-04-30T20:00:18","modified_gmt":"2021-04-30T14:30:18","slug":"antimicrobial-resistance-may-become-a-silent-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/antimicrobial-resistance-may-become-a-silent-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Antimicrobial Resistance may Become a Silent Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><b>Synopsis<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400; color: #000000;\">The challenges posed by <a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answered-antimicrobial-resistance-amr-is-considered-one-of-the-most-significant-challenges-the-world-faces-today-discuss\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Antimicrobial resistance (AMR)<\/a> demands a comprehensive and collaborative approach by all the countries. They must come together to tackle the silent pandemic.<\/span><\/p>\n<h5><b>Background<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Covid 19 exposed the vulnerabilities of health systems across the globe. It took away the lives of more than 3 million people since January 2020.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Experts believe that greater destruction would be caused by AMR in the coming years. This calls for taking strong steps at the national and global levels.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><b>What is AMR?<\/b><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400; color: #000000;\">It is a phenomenon by which bacteria, fungi, parasites, and viruses evolve and become resistant to presently available <a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answeredwhat-is-antimicrobial-resistance-discuss-the-issues-around-antimicrobial-resistance-in-light-of-the-recent-government-ban-on-colistin-in-the-poultry-industry\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Antimicrobial resistance<\/span><\/a>\u00a0treatment.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The infections persist in the body, increasing the risk of spread to others.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><b>Reasons behind the development of AMR<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/h5>\n<p><b>Primary reasons<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Misuse of antimicrobials in medicine<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; This happens when the proper course of medication is not done or the person indulges in self-medication.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Inappropriate use in agriculture <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8211; Antibiotics are used to boost the productivity of livestock.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Contamination around pharmaceutical manufacturing sites<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211;\u00a0 The untreated waste releases large amounts of active antimicrobials into the environment.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><b>Secondary Reasons<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>No new antimicrobial developments<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: No new classes of antibiotics have made it to the market in the last three decades. This is a result of inadequate incentives for their development and production.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A recent report from the non-profit PEW Trusts found that over 95% of antibiotics in development today are from small companies.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Easily Availability<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Antimicrobials are easily available as \u2018over the counter drugs\u2019 in many countries. This ease facilitates more consumption and development of AMR.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><b>Challenges posed by AMR development:<\/b><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Threat to the health care system: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Antimicrobials prevent infections post a routine surgery or cancer treatment.<\/span> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Their ineffectiveness would impair the modern health system.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The problem is more grave for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) of Asia and Africa where cheap antimicrobials have significantly reduced the mortality rates.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Loss of Human Lives:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> It is responsible for up to 7 lakh deaths a year. It is estimated that 10 million annual deaths would be caused by it post 2050.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Economic Brunt:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The countries would require abundant capital to manage the AMR crisis in the future. As per an estimate, it may cost up to $100 trillion by 2050.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5><b>Way Forward<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/h5>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Accessibility: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There is a need to ensure better accessibility of antimicrobials. Globally, 5.7 million people die every year because they cannot access drugs for infections that are treatable.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Incentivisation:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The companies must be encouraged to develop new antimicrobial drugs. In this regard, a multi-sectoral $1 billion AMR Action Fund was launched in 2020 to support the development of new antibiotics.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Judicious Use:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> There must be appropriate and judicious use of antimicrobial drugs. Countries can learn from:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Peru\u2019s efforts on patient education<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to reduce unnecessary antibiotic prescriptions<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>EU-supported VALUE-Dx programme<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that has increased the use of point-of-care diagnostics. This has resulted in prudent drug intake.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Tracking the spread of AMR<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Surveillance measures to identify these organisms need to expand beyond hospitals. They should encompass livestock, wastewater, and farm run-offs.<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For instance, Denmark\u2019s efforts to prevent the use of antibiotics in livestock had reduced AMR prevalence and boosted agricultural productivity.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Similarly, countries must formulate a dedicated and holistic plan to deal with AMR like India&#8217;s National Action Plan for antimicrobial resistance.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><b>Global Coordination<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: International alignment and coordination are paramount in both policymaking and its implementation. The countries can use the Paris Agreement as a blueprint for developing a <\/span><b>similar global approach<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to tackling AMR.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: <a href=\"https:\/\/epaper.thehindu.com\/Home\/ShareArticle?OrgId=G1T8HHCU2.1&amp;imageview=0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Hindu<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Synopsis: The challenges posed by Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) demands a comprehensive and collaborative approach by all the countries. They must come together to tackle the silent pandemic. Background: Covid 19 exposed the vulnerabilities of health systems across the globe. It took away the lives of more than 3 million people since January 2020. Experts believe&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/antimicrobial-resistance-may-become-a-silent-pandemic\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Antimicrobial Resistance may Become a Silent Pandemic<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10322,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1230,1351,1310,9],"tags":[1315],"class_list":["post-104100","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-9-pm-daily-articles","category-daily-news","category-daily-news-updates","category-public","tag-st_1","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":{"total":0,"cached_at":"","cached_date":1704900459},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104100","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10322"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104100"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104100\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104100"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104100"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104100"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}