NEW DELHI: The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday said Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), a key threat to global health, food security, and development, will reduce global annual GDP by 3.8 per cent by 2050.
“In a high-impact scenario, AMR will reduce global annual GDP by 3.8 percent by 2050. If left unchecked, in the next decade, it could result in a GDP shortfall of US$ 3.4 trillion annually, pushing 24 million more people into extreme poverty,” Dr Poonam Khetrapal Singh, WHO Regional Director for South-East Asia, said.
New global estimates show that in 2019, nearly five million human deaths worldwide were associated with bacterial AMR which occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines, making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death of which 1.3 million human deaths were directly attributable to bacterial AMR.
Seeking the urgent need for sustained multi-sectoral action to prevent and contain AMR during World Antimicrobial Awareness Week (WAAW), the world body said that since 2014, preventing and combating AMR has been one of the eight flagship priorities of the Region, which is at high risk for the emergence and spread of AMR.
Dr Singh said all member states continue to implement national action plans to address AMR, and in each member state, a multi-sectoral working group or coordination committee on AMR has been established, in alignment with the Global Action Plan on AMR, adopted in 2015.