U.N. Agencies, E.U. Highlight Threat Of Antimicrobial Resistance During World Antibiotic Awareness Week

EURACTIV: Antimicrobial resistance set to become bigger killer than cancer by 2050
“…Ahead of European Antibiotic Awareness Day on 18 November, the E.U. and public health stakeholders are aiming to raise awareness of this issue and make it a policy priority in the member states. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) currently claims 25,000 lives in the E.U. every year and 700,000 worldwide, but is projected to become a bigger killer than cancer by 2050, unless drastic action is taken…” (White, 11/14).

Newsweek: There’s an antibiotic apocalypse that’s going to send us back to the Dark Ages of medicine
“…Overuse of antibiotics is one of the issues the World Health Organization would like to make more people think about this week. The agency has declared the week of November 13 to be ‘World Antibiotic Awareness Week.’ This is WHO’s third antibiotic awareness week…” (Sheridan, 11/13).

U.N. News Centre: Antibiotic resistance is ‘crisis we cannot ignore,’ U.N. warns, calling for responsible use of these medicines
“As World Antibiotic Awareness Week began on Monday, the United Nations, through its Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), called for responsible use of antibiotics in humans and animals to reduce the emergence of antibiotic resistance. ‘Antibiotic resistance is a global crisis that we cannot ignore,’ said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of WHO. ‘If we don’t tackle this threat with strong, coordinated action, antimicrobial resistance will take us back to a time when people feared common infections and risked their lives from minor surgery’…” (11/13).

The KFF Daily Global Health Policy Report summarized news and information on global health policy from hundreds of sources, from May 2009 through December 2020. All summaries are archived and available via search.

KFF Headquarters: 185 Berry St., Suite 2000, San Francisco, CA 94107 | Phone 650-854-9400
Washington Offices and Barbara Jordan Conference Center: 1330 G Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005 | Phone 202-347-5270

www.kff.org | Email Alerts: kff.org/email | facebook.com/KFF | twitter.com/kff

The independent source for health policy research, polling, and news, KFF is a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco, California.