Anti Microbial Resistance (AMR)
Antimicrobials are drugs used to treat bacterial, viral, and fungal infections. The most commonly prescribed microbials are antibiotics. Antimicrobial resistance AMR is the ability of infection-causing microorganisms, including bacterias, viruses, and fungus, to evolve when exposed to medicines such as antimalarial, antifungals, and antivirals, rendering the drugs ineffective in treating the infections. Microorganisms that become resistant to antimicrobials are referred to as “superbugs.”
The increasing spread of antimicrobial resistance is attributed to several factors. The most common cause is the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials which is influenced by factors such as lack of regulation and oversight of the use of antibiotics, lack of awareness regarding appropriate use, use of antimicrobials for wrong purposes such as the use antibiotics medicines for growth in animals, and the availability of over the counter, counterfeit, and poor quality antimicrobial medicines. As a result of resistance, infections that were once easily treatable, such as specific strains of pneumonia, tuberculosis, and gonorrhea, become hard and impossible to manage.
Antimicrobial resistance has become a major threat to global public health and demands immediate intervention from all government sectors and society. Due to the prolonged period duration of infections, the need for more specialized tests, and the use of expensive drugs, the cost of health care has increased significantly in the past few years.
Globally, AMR accounts for more than 70,000 deaths per year. In the United States, approximately 2.8 million people contract an antibiotic resistance infection per year, and more than 35,000 of them die from the diseases. AMR threatens not only the public health safety but also major development and economic goals, which endangers the achievement of sustainable development in society. This calls for immediate collaborative approaches across all governments and sectors in quest of finding a solution to the AMR threat.
Who can get AMR?
Anyone is at the risk of contracting a microbial resistant infection. However, people living with chronic illnesses are at higher risk than the general population. Antimicrobial-resistant microbes are found in people, animals, and in the environment, including water food and the air. However, factors like poor sanitation and poor infection control can accelerate the spread of these infections. Without effective antimicrobial drugs, many medical procedures that depend on the ability to fight infections using antimicrobial drugs such as joint replacement and treatment of chronic illness such as cancer, diabetes, and asthma are endangered.
According to the World Health Organization WHO, relying on new antimicrobial drugs to fight infections is not the most appropriate solution. We can also take part in reducing the risk of these microorganisms from becoming resistant by preventing infections, and only using the drugs when they are needed.
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