Bacterial resistance to antibiotics causes 1.27 million deaths per year: WHO official

Subject: Science and Technology

Context-

Bacterial resistance to antibiotics directly causes 1.27 million annual deaths globally and indirectly contributes to or is associated with an additional 4.95 million deaths annually, according to Dr H Getahun, director of Global Coordination and Partnership on Antimicrobial resistance – World Health Organisation (AMR-WHO).

Antimicrobial resistance-

According to a 2017 World Bank report, if no action is taken now, antimicrobial resistance is may cause US$ 1.2 trillion additional health expenditure per year by 2050, and push up to 24 million more people, particularly in low-income countries, into extreme poverty by 2030.
Antimicrobial resistance occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines, making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death.
As a result of drug resistance, antibiotics and other antimicrobial medicines become ineffective and infections become increasingly difficult or impossible to treat.
Microorganisms that develop antimicrobial resistance are sometimes referred to as “superbugs”.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified AMR as one of the top ten threats to global health.
Researchers estimated that AMR in bacteria caused an estimated 1.27 mn deaths in 2019.

AMR in India:

India, with its combination of a large population, rising incomes that facilitate the purchase of antibiotics, high burden of infectious diseases and easy over-the-counter access to antibiotics, is an important locus for the generation of resistance genes (such genes help bacteria in surviving on being exposed to antibiotics).
The multi-drug resistance determinant, New Delhi Metallo-beta-lactamase-1 (NDM-1), emerged from this region to spread globally.
Africa, Europe and other parts of Asia have also been affected by multi-drug-resistant typhoid originating from South Asia.
In India, over 56,000 newborn deaths each year due to sepsis are caused by organisms that are resistant to first-line antibiotics.

Global measures-

World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW):
Held annually since 2015, WAAW is a global campaign that aims to raise awareness of antimicrobial resistance worldwide and encourage best practices among the general public, health workers and policymakers to slow the development and spread of drug-resistant infections.
The Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS):
- WHO launched the GLASS in 2015 to continue filling knowledge gaps and to inform strategies at all levels.
- GLASS has been conceived to progressively incorporate data from surveillance of AMR in humans, surveillance of the use of antimicrobial medicines, and AMR in the food chain and in the environment.