Curtailing pollution created by pharmaceuticals, agricultural and healthcare sectors is essential to reduce the emergence, transmission, and spread of superbugs — strains of bacteria that have become resistant to every known antibiotic — and other instances of antimicrobial resistance, known as AMR.
This is the key message of a report released by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) on the environmental dimensions of AMR, which already is taking a serious toll on the The development and spread of AMR mean that antimicrobials used to prevent and treat infections in humans, animals and plants might turn ineffective, with modern medicine no longer able to treat even mild infections.
Listed by the WHO among the top 10 global threats to health, it is estimated that in 2019, 1.27 million deaths were directly attributed to drug-resistant infections globally, and 4.95 million deaths worldwide were associated with bacterial AMR (including those directly attributable to AMR).
AMR is expected to cause 10 million additional direct deaths annually by 2050. This equals the number of deaths caused globally by cancer in 2020.
The report highlights a comprehensive set of measures to address both the decline of the environment and the rise of AMR, especially addressing key pollution sources from poor sanitation, sewage, community and municipal wastes.