Antibiotic resistance now a global pandemic

 
Published: Monday 05 May 2014

Data from 114 countries show spread of the major public health threat; global collaboration needed for targeted solutions, says global health agency
Author: Vibha Varshney
Antimicrobial resistance 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. The World Health Organization, in a report released Wednesday, says that antimicrobial resistance is now a major threat to public health.
 
Public health experts suggest ways to curb drug resistance
 
Chandra Bhushan, deputy director general, Centre for Science and Environment
Author: Chandra Bhushan
I am at the South Centre in Geneva, attending a meeting of global non-government organisations (NGOs) working on the issue of antibiotic resistance. The World Health Organization (WHO) has released here on Wednesday its very first report on the global status of antimicrobial resistance. Dr Keiji Fukuda, assistant director-general of WHO, and his team presented the report a while ago and interacted with the NGOs.
 
Powerful, newer generation drugs are being sold far more frequently for no apparent reason
Author: Ramanan Laxminarayan
Seventy years ago, before we had antibiotics, a simple cut or wound could kill because of a bacterial infection. Antibiotics changed that. These remarkable drugs are capable of killing off biological organisms in our body without harming us. Under the illusion that taking antibiotics is essential for every sneeze and cold (which by the way, are unaffected by antibiotics), we have collectively overused antibiotics.
 
Track the emergence of superbugs
 
Check out the single-celled organism's survival strategies
 

 

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