Steering Against Superbugs

Download or read book Steering Against Superbugs written by Olivier Rubin and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2023-05-19 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Many people correctly understand that superbugs can threaten health. Superbugs are microbial organisms, including bacteria, viruses, parasites, or fungi, that resist one or more antibiotic or other antimicrobial treatments. What may be less widely understood is that the threat is global, growing, and encompasses human systems surrounding healthcare, agriculture, and the environment. In 2019, 1.3 million people around the world are estimated to have died from resistant microbes (Murray et al., 2022). This is similar to how many succumb annually to HIV/AIDS and Malaria combined (Laxminarayan, 2022). The recent coronavirus pandemic may have further exacerbated the global health challenge posed by superbugs (Rizvi & Ahammad, 2022; Adebisi et al., 2021; Rodríguez-Baño et al., 2021). By 2050, worst-case projections include annual superbug fatalities of ten million people (O'Neil, 2016). Some experts have started to refer to the increase and spread of superbugs as the overlooked or silent pandemic (Laxminarayan, 2022; UN, 2020; Mahoney et al., 2021). Other experts warn that we might be heading towards a 'post-antibiotic' era where minor infections become increasingly severe or even impossible to treat (Reardon, 2014; Kwon & Powderly, 2021). Annual economic losses related to superbugs are already estimated in the tens of billion U.S. dollars (Hall, McDonell & O'Neil, 2018). As a response to these global challenges, this book analyses and discusses ways to reduce barriers to and create opportunities for global governance of antimicrobial resistance. Or more briefly, steering against superbugs"--