Global health experts said on Thursday that the world’s most powerful drugs are losing the battle against drug-resistant strains of malaria, HIV, gonorrhea and tuberculosis
According to Dr. Thomas Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, antimicrobial resistance is robbing us of the certainty that antibiotics will always be there to fight infections and new drug-resistant pathogens are emerging. “It’s not enough to hope that we’ll have effective drugs to combat these infections. We must all act now to safeguard this important resource,” Frieden said
What you need to know about Anti-Microbial Resistance
What is Anti-Microbial Resistance:
Antimicrobial resistance occurs when germs change in a way that reduces or eliminates the effectiveness of drugs to treat them. This happens when antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals and other medications are used too liberally. About half of antimicrobial drugs — antibiotics in particular — are used unnecessarily or inappropriately prescribed in U.S. hospitals and in doctors’ offices, the CDC says. The best approach to preserving those drugs is to use them only when needed.
How Anti-Microbial Resistance affects developing world, especially Africa
HIV: Studies show that up to 20 percent of newly diagnosed HIV patients have transmitted a drug-resistant infection. Approximately 22 million people live with HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa. In the US and other developed countries, Doctors can test or resistance before prescribing drugs, but such luxury may be too hard to come by in under-privileged communities
Malaria: Plasmodium falciparum, the most dangerous of the malaria parasites, has developed resistance in nearly all areas of the world where it is transmitted. Annually, there are about 225 million malaria infections and nearly 800,000 deaths. Women and children are the most affected, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa.
