World leaders have assembled at the United Nations headquarters in
New York to discuss a growing threat to public health: drug-resistant bacteria,
otherwise known as superbugs.
For many years, doctors around the world have used medicines called
antibiotics to prevent and treat bacterial infections. They work by killing or
controlling harmful bacteria, helping patients to recover from illnesses. This has
saved millions of lives, but widespread use of antibiotics has a downside. Over
time, harmful bacteria evolve a resistance to antibiotic drugs, and some
medicines no longer have any effect on them. This is known as antibiotic
resistance, and has been described by officials as “the biggest threat to
modern medicine.” Already, drug-resistant bacteria kill around 700,000 people each
year, and that figure will increase unless we take action.
Experts hope that this month’s high-level meeting at the UN will
improve matters. A declaration signed by each of the organisation’s 193 member
states sets out three key commitments: first, governments will support the development
of new antibiotics; second, they’ll introduce tighter rules for the use of
existing antibiotics; and third, they’ll improve education and awareness on how
to prevent drug-resistant infections.
Already, there are reasons to be hopeful. Just this year,
researchers discovered a brand new antibiotic in a very unlikely place: inside
a human nostril! With every country around the world now promising to work
together, new weapons in the war against the superbugs could be just around the
corner – or even right under our nose.
Watch the Twig film Antibiotics to
learn more about this global issue.
