SPECIAL FEATURE
ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE: THE SILENT PANDEMIC The Asian Development Bank partnered with global institutions to examine efforts to curb one of humanity’s most significant global health threats.
Did you know?
Antibiotic resistance happens when bacteria adapt to avoid destruction by antibiotics. Antimicrobial resistance is a much broader term that encompasses bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites, and the cornucopia of drugs used to combat the infections they cause.
ASIA RESEA RC H NE WS 2022 Credit: 123rf | 5phonrf
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The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a the International Centre for Antimicrostaggering number of deaths and illness- bial Resistance Solutions (ICARS), and es, and an immense economic burden the Embassy of Denmark in Korea. Titled worldwide. But the awareness of the “Curbing the invisible pandemic: Effective solutions to collectively combat importance of infection prevention and antimicrobial resistance”, the webinar control it has created, and the rapid global brought together a large panel of experts response it triggered, could be a blessing in disguise for the war against a more in- to highlight the potential solutions and sidious pandemic that has been around for national action plans being developed to tackle this global problem. much longer. In 2019, the World Health Organization declared antimicrobial resistance (AMR) One globe, one health as one of the top ten global public health “In order to solve the issue of AMR, a threats facing humanity. Many bacteria, joint initiative is required that incorpoviruses, parasites and fungi have adapted rates not only humans, but also animals, over time to develop resistances to some of the life-saving antimicrobial drugs dis- food and the environment; the so-called covered since the early 20th century. This One Health approach,” said Eun A Her, member of the Korean National Assemnatural process of adaptation has been bly Science and Technology Information accelerated by the misuse and overuse of these drugs. Infections by drug-resis- Broadcasting and Communications Committee. tant microbes were predicted to cause One Health is a holistic and multi-sec700,000 deaths a year but the actual toral approach for combating AMR by number may be much higher based on a designing and implementing programmes, recent study (see next story). Scientists policies, legislation and research that recpredict that this number will rise to 10 ognize the interconnectivity of human, anmillion deaths every year by 2050, with a global economic loss of US$100 trillion, if imal and environmental health. ICARS was established in Denmark no action is taken. in November 2021 to apply this One On December 7, 2021, a webinar on this issue was hosted by the Asian Devel- Health approach to research that tests opment Bank Southeast Asia Develop- context-specific solutions for AMR in lowand middle-income settings. ment Solutions (SEAD), the International “Low- and middle-income countries will Vaccine Institute, Institut Pasteur Korea,
