Can antibiotics stop working? Yes-but the biggest danger is not GPS with a prescription | Giant sridhar

IWhat the antibiotics we used to treat infections stopped working, the results would be disaster. Antibiotic use Adds about 20 years Life expectation (average) for every person around the world. As the king’s fund says, if we lose antibiotics, we will lose modern medicine as we know ”. Doctors, public health experts and governments take the threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) very seriously, but the problem seems to deteriorate.

A report from the National Audit Office in February found that only one of the five domestic targets determined to combat AMR in 2019 were met-to reduce the use of antibiotics in animals producing in the form. Others did not make much progress, such as 10%reduction in drug -resistant infections in humans; In fact, these infections have actually increased by 13% since 2018.

AMR is usually misunderstood. I often heard that people say, “I’m afraid of taking antibiotics and being resistant to them.” However, AMR is not related to individuals’ resistant to antibiotics. Pathogens – mostly bacterial infections, but also viruses, fungi and parasites – develop to be resistant to our existing drugs, so that the infections they cause become untreated. Imagine procedures such as ear, urinary tract and chest infections or Carties and other routine surgeries, because it threatens life because the drugs we use to treat infections or prevent them after medical procedures are useless.

However, in England, he beats himself with another stick. The country was actually quite good in fighting Amr. Our research team in 2023 Jay Patel In 114 countries, Lancet has issued an analysis in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, which measures the global response to AMR. England only built the first three “best performance” countries in front of the USA and Norway, followed by Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Japan. The loan in the UK has largely made a priority with Dame Sally Davies, the Chief Medical Officer of the UK from 2011 to 2019, and continues to lead as a special ambassador of England in the UK’s Amr. Together with the EU, the British government has led to national directives and surveillance in human and animal health.

We may be worried about prescribing antibiotics in NHS, explaining these drugs unnecessarily pathogens, and allowing them to improve resistance. But we worked on AMR MANAGEMENT Previously, the greatest threat of my receivable is the rise of resistant pathogens in countries that use large amounts of antibiotics for growth and cheap meat in animals. Imagine China, Brazil, India and even pigs, chicken and cattle Until recently USA. Livestock alone is estimated Consume 50% to 80% Antibiotics produced in high and medium -income countries. These resistant pathogens develop in animals given as an antibiotic prophylactic even when they are healthy. They are infected with a person who can then travel and spread to other people. This is a simple formula. Antibiotic plus farm workers and air travel in animals are equal to drug -resistant infections in the UK and elsewhere.

Not just theoretical. In 2018 Work in nature He found that in 2006, when a common colistine -resistant bacteria, including hospitals in London, could be watched in China in 2006, when a bacteria jumped from pigs to people. The colistine is a last -row antibiotic for certain infections, ie other drugs are given after failure, but it has been extensively used for growth promotion of pig farming in China. Since these findings, the Chinese government, India and Japan, Prohibited colist animal feed. This will probably have a greater effect on reducing AMR in England clinics and human prescription practices.

The UK is protected from drug -resistant infections to regulate the use of antibiotics, especially in animals. Davies has worked hard to force this agenda globally, and made an agreement on human health, agricultural and veterinarian experts on standards and regulations, a universal goodness. However, there is a clear conflict with those who claim to be priority in medium -income countries with large population, including cheap and existing meat.

Why can’t we develop new antibiotics if our existing ones become ineffective? Simple question and difficult answer. These are technically difficult drugs and we made very slow progress. Developing versions similar to existing antibiotics is not enough because they will not be effective against pathogens that develop resistance: we need completely new drugs. And the last World Health Organization Report Since 2017, 13 new antibiotics have been receiving, but only two represented a new chemical class.

The best we can to fight with AMR is to protect our current medicine ammunition and to ensure that they are effective. This means working with other countries in a common approach to how and when the drugs are used in humans and animals. This is particularly an ongoing difficulty in a world where cooperation is impaired and insulationist approaches increase. Yes, we can blame the British government for many things, but it is a prominent country about AMR and a global leader.

• Prof Giant Sridhar, Global Public Health President and author at Edinburgh University How should not die (very soon)