Viewpoint by Martin Khor *
Antibiotics – also called antibacterials – revolutionized medicine in the 20th century. Their effectiveness and easy access led to overuse, especially in livestock raising, prompting bacteria to develop resistance. This has led to widespread problems with antimicrobial and antibiotic resistance, so much as to prompt the World Health Organization to classify antimicrobial resistance as a "serious threat [that] is no longer a prediction for the future, it is happening right now in every region of the world and has the potential to affect anyone, of any age, in any country". - Editor
GENEVA (IDN | SOUTHNEWS) - Antibiotic resistance – a process by which antibiotics no longer work because bacteria have become resistant to them – has climbed up the global agenda because of growing awareness of the immense threat this poses to human health and survival.
However, there is still not enough action to tackle this crisis. Health Ministers meeting at the World Health Assembly in Geneva May 23-28, 2016 have an opportunity to review the extent to which a Global Action Plan adopted in 2015 has been implemented.
In the background is the recent disturbing news of the discovery by scientists of a gene, MCR-1, which creates resistance to colistin, a powerful antibiotic used as a last resort to treat infections when other medicines do not work.
