World leaders have committed to reducing superbug-related deaths by 10% before the end of the decade.
The 2030 target, set at a meeting at the UN General Assembly in New York, came with warnings that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) could reverse a century of medical progress.
AMR, where pathogens such as bacteria evolve so that existing drugs no longer work against them, is linked to 4.7 million deaths each year. The toll is expected to reach 8.2 million per year by 2050 predictions.
The new political statement on AMR, signed by 193 member states, calls for scaled-up action across sectors including farming, pharmaceutical manufacturing, environmental protection and healthcare.
Mia Mottley, the prime minister of Barbados who is the chairman of the Global Leaders Group on AMRdescribed the meeting as a “landmark event” that was essential to protect future generations.
“This is a press conference not for us with gray hair, but for the young people of the world, because they are the ones who will have to face the possible threat of a reversal of a century of medical progress in what we call the silent , slow-motion pandemic,” she said.
She described the potential for a world in which an infection caused by a scratch while gardening, during childbirth or through dental treatment could cause death within days, due to a lack of effective antibiotics.
The statement invites the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Environment Programme, World Organization for Animal Health and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN to establish an independent panel – similar to that set up for climate change – to provide scientific evidence to support strategies against AMR. They will also update a global action plan on AMR by 2026.
It also calls for financial support for poorer countries where the issue is most acute. WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the statement was “a strong signal from countries that they are committed to addressing this global threat”.
