Drug resistance and superbugs: How to stop the spread

Jayasree Iyer, Chief Executive Officer of the Access to Medicine Foundation uses this article to set out why a greater sense of urgency and collaboration from all players is needed to slow the rise of drug resistance, along with the critical inclusion of this topic in health security initiatives. 

Jayasree draws on the findings from the newly published 2021 Antimicrobial Resistance Benchmark to show how the biggest pharmaceutical companies in the antibiotic market have tackled the rise of resistance and the global need for appropriate access to antibiotics.

She writes: "The world must take note of the lessons learned from COVID-19...Antimicrobial resistance is not a future problem. It is here now, with an estimated 750,000 people dying each year from drug-resistant infections. At the same time, 5.7 million people also die annually from treatable infections because of a lack of access to medicines. The combination of more superbugs and inadequate treatment is becoming a lethal cocktail that threatens to unleash spiralling levels of drug resistance."

She quotes Hugo de Jonge, Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport and Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands, as saying, ''The Netherlands recognizes the vital importance of including antimicrobial resistance in health security efforts. We are a proud supporter of the Access to Medicine Foundation and its role in encouraging pharmaceutical companies to step up. By working collaboratively across multiple sectors, we can stop the next big global health threat in its tracks.”

Click to read the full article on the WEF website.