According to the warning of the former head doctor, Lady Sally Davis, the world threatens a serious danger - the spread of bacteria resistant to antibiotics. According to her, this can lead to even routine surgery, childbirth and other medical procedures will be extremely risky. It calls for immediate measures to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR), since inaction can take tens of millions of lives in the coming decades.
Antimicrobial resistance is the ability of microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, fungi) to become insensitive to drugs such as antibiotics. This means that infections that have previously been treated quickly and effectively are becoming more severe for treatment, and in some cases even deadly. Sally Davis ladies warn that in the next 25 years, excessive use of antibiotics can lead to death up to 40 million people. Already, about one million people die annually through AMR, and by 2050 this number can double. The most vulnerable will be the elderly whose health is already weakened by chronic diseases. "The latter data show that AMR is reduced in children under five years old, which is good news. But for people over 70 years of age, the mortality rate from superbacteria has increased by 80% since 1990. This is of serious concern," Davis said. One of the main causes of the problem is the excessive use of antibiotics not only in medicine but also in agriculture. Almost 70% of all antibiotics in the world are used in animal husbandry, where they are used not only for the treatment of diseases, but also as preventive products or animal growth stimulants. This creates ideal conditions for the development of resistant bacteria, which can then enter the environment through contaminated reservoirs, soil and even air. "We throw antibiotics with cows, chickens and sheep as a cheap alternative to growth stimulants or preventive means to prevent the spread of diseases. This leads to the development of superbacteria that can be transmitted to humans," Davis explains. The situation is also complicated by the fact that since the 1980s no new antibiotics classes have been released on the market. The reason is that the development of new drugs for the fight against infections is low -profit for pharmaceutical companies. Medications that should be taken daily, such as blood pressure treatment, or cancer drugs, generate much more profits than antibiotics that are only used as needed. "Pharmaceutical companies do not have an incentive for the development of new antibiotics. They are more interested in drugs for chronic diseases that can be sold for a long time. Therefore, the fight against AMR becomes a real headache for the medical community," Davis said.
In order to avoid catastrophe, the expert calls for immediate action. It emphasizes the importance of limiting the use of antibiotics in agriculture, as well as the need to develop new classes of drugs to combat infections. It is also important to increase awareness of health care workers and patients about the need for more cautious use of antibiotics to prevent resistance.
"We have to act quickly, because the future of our medicine depends on whether we can stop the spread of superbacteria. If we do not take decisive action now, then every year medical procedures will become more dangerous," Davis summarizes.
