United Nations pledges to fight drug-resistant superbugs

(Reuters) – United Nations member countries pledged for the first time on Wednesday to take steps to tackle the threat posed by drug-resistant superbugs in a coordinated effort to curb the spread of infections by pathogens that defy antimicrobial medicines. The pledge during the annual U.N. General Assembly in New York followed years of warnings by global health officials about the rise of drug-resistant infections, which threaten to wipe out all effective antibiotics and antifungal medicines, leaving the world vulnerable to simple infections that once could be easily cured. “Antimicrobial resistance poses a fundamental threat to human health, development and security,” said Dr. Margaret Chan, director-general of World Health Organization, the global health arm of the United Nations. This marked only the fourth time that a General Assembly had taken up a health-related issue, joining past sessions on HIV, non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, and the Ebola virus. Drug-resistant pathogens have flourished because of overuse and misuse of antibiotics and other antimicrobial drugs used in humans, animals and crops, as well as the spread of residues from these medicines in the soil, crops and water. Common infections such as pneumonia, gonorrhea, and post-operative infections, as well as HIV, tuberculosis and malaria, are becoming increasingly hard to treat because of antimicrobial resistance. In a joint statement, countries pledged to dev...
Source: Mass Device - Category: Medical Equipment Authors: Tags: Hospital Care Sterilization / Calibration United Nations Source Type: news