The WHO listed antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as one of the top 10 global public health threats, which experts say could reduce global life expectancy by an average of 1.8 years by 2035, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday, the first day of World AMR Awareness Week.
AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites no longer respond to medicines, “making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death,” the WHO’s Web site says.
The theme of this year’s World AMR Awareness Week, which is held annually from Nov. 18 to Nov. 24, is “educate, advocate, act now,” which the WHO’s Web site says is a “call on the global community to educate stakeholders on AMR, advocate for bold commitments and take concrete actions in response to AMR.”
Photo: Screen grab from WHO’s Web site
The CDC said that studies have suggested that about 5 million people worldwide die of AMR-related illness each year, and that without a stronger response to control the phenomenon, life expectancy would fall by an average of 1.8 years by 2035, along with a 2 to 3.5 percent decrease in GDP by 2050.
The centers said it has teamed up with the Joint Commission of Taiwan, a healthcare accreditation body, to raise public awareness on AMR prevention and control.
CDC Deputy Director-General and spokesman Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said that AMR is a global issue that not only affects humans, but also animals, plants and the environment, which is why healthcare, food and agriculture agencies have enhanced their cooperation to fight AMR.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Agriculture are next year to launch a five-year “national one-health AMR control action plan,” which includes establishing a national AMR prevention platform and developing AMR control guidelines, he said.
The goals include reducing antibiotic use in humans by 5 percent and reduce by 10 percent infections with carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii, a highly antibiotic-resistant bacterium with limited treatment options, Lo said.
In addition to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, improving hand hygiene and obtaining recommended vaccines, people should follow the “four don’ts and one do” principle to prevent AMR, the CDC said.
Do not request antibiotics prescriptions, do not purchase and take antibiotics on their own, do not take antibiotics provided by other people and do not stop taking antibiotics early, the CDC said, adding that people should “follow their doctor’s instructions carefully when taking antibiotics.”
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