- According to the Inter-agency Coordination Group on Antimicrobial Resistance (IACG), set up by the United Nations, drug-resistant infections already claim 700,000 lives a year, including 230,000 deaths from drug-resistant tuberculosis.
- The report titled “No Time to Wait: Securing The Future From Drug Resistant Infections”,says that resistant infections could kill 10 million people annually by 2050 and trigger an economic slowdown to rival the global financial crisis of 2008.
- The report also says that in the worst-case scenario, the world will lose 3.8% of its annual GDP by 2050, while 24 million people will be pushed into extreme poverty by 2030.
- During the next 30 years, the United Nations experts said, 2.4 million people in Europe, North America and Australia could die from drug-resistant infections, making routine hospital procedures like knee-replacement surgery and childbirth far riskier than they are today.
- It has called for the creation of an independent body with the stature and funding of the United Nations’ panel on climate change.
- The recommendations include a worldwide ban on the use of medically important antibiotics for promoting growth in farm animals; financial incentives for drug companies to develop new antimicrobial compounds; and more stringent rules to limit the sale of antibiotics in countries where drugs can often be bought at convenience stores without a prescription.
- The IACG was formed in September 2016 with a mandate to provide practical guidance to ensure sustained and effective global action to address antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The group has members from the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Organisation for Animal Health.
