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At the 2024 United Nations General Assembly High-Level Meeting on AMR (UNHLM on AMR) in September, world leaders endorsed a strong political declaration. Reducing the global deaths associated with Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) by 10 per cent by 2030 against the 2019 baseline of 4.95 million deaths is one of the targets. 100 per cent of countries having basic water, sanitation, hygiene and waste services in all healthcare facilities and 90 per cent of countries meeting all WHO minimum requirements for infection prevention and control programmes at the national level by 2030 are a couple of other targets to which world leaders have committed. Another important UNHLM on AMR target is that at least 80 per cent of countries can test drug-resistance in all bacterial and fungal pathogens by 2030. The commitment by the world leaders shows the seriousness of the issue as AMR is slowly but definitely emerging as a pressing global health and socio-economic crisis. It has significant impacts on human and animal health, food production and the environment. AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites no longer respond to antimicrobial agents. As a result of drug resistance, antibiotics and other antimicrobial agents become ineffective and infections become difficult or impossible to treat, increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death. There can be no two opinions about the fact that the drug-resistant-pathogens pose a threat to everyone, everywhere in the world. The increasing prevalence of AMR leads to more complicated infections that require extended hospital stays, the use of more expensive antibiotics, specialized care, and sometimes surgical intervention. The compounded costs of longer treatments, more complex medical interventions, and higher mortality rates contribute significantly to escalating healthcare expenses globally. This makes addressing AMR not only a critical health issue but also an urgent economic one as it calls for a One Health Approach.
What is more alarming is that this global health crisis is pushing the world towards a post-antibiotic era where even common infections could once again become deadly. No doubt, AMR is a gathering storm that threatens a century of progress made in medicine. Each year, drug-resistant bacteria claim more than a million lives globally, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Yet this crisis is still a silent one. It is often observed that the availability of these life-saving medicines over-the-counter makes matters worse as people tend to purchase antibiotic drugs even for illnesses which are due to a virus rather than a bacterium. When antibiotics are so readily available, it is not imperative for the patients to be treated with the care they needed. Yet another fact is that the burden of AMR falls disproportionately on low- and middle-income countries, where healthcare systems are overburdened, and resources are stretched. Quite obviously, the global community has declared AMR as a public health crisis which is evident from the fact that World AMR Awareness Week (WAAW) was observed globally from November 18 to 24 with the theme ‘Educate, Advocate, Act now’. This year’s theme calls on the global community to educate stakeholders on AMR, advocate for bold commitments and take concrete actions in response to AMR. Certainly, much more should be done by the world to raise public and stakeholder awareness about the consequences of the emerging health crisis. The 2024 UNGA High-level Meeting on AMR and the fourth Global High-Level Ministerial Conference on AMR have provided a critical window of opportunity for political and financial commitments as well as increased accountability in response to AMR. The world should act with determination and political will to face this crisis as AMR is not the health crisis of the present generation alone, as it is going to be the biggest health crisis of the next generation too, if not tackled in time. So, the time to act is now.
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