U.N. To Meet This Week On Antimicrobial Resistance; High-Level Event Outcomes Unknown

CIDRAP News: Experts hope U.N. meeting on antimicrobial resistance yields action
“…When global leaders meet on Wednesday to discuss [antimicrobial resistance (AMR)], the primary objective will be to ‘summon and maintain strong national, regional, and international political commitment in addressing antimicrobial resistance comprehensively and multi-sectorally,’ according to a U.N. press release. What that translates into remains to be seen…” (Dall, 9/19).

STAT: Global leaders are set to put superbugs on the world stage
“…[A] high-level meeting scheduled for Wednesday at this year’s U.N. gathering is a testament to fast-rising concern over the rate at which bacteria are learning to evade science’s last remaining tools against them. … Any resolution endorsed by member states is unlikely to include targets limiting the use of antibiotics on a per capita basis, the kind of recommendation experts have urged be taken…” (Branswell, 9/19).

Vox: The U.N. is finally treating antibiotic-resistant superbugs like a catastrophic threat
“…A few key concepts are raised again and again and again when it comes to the problem of antibiotic resistance. ‘We may quibble over the details, but there is solid agreement on the science and basic policy directions,’ said [Boston University’s Kevin Outterson]. You can organize these ideas under three broad categories: conservation, innovation, and access…” (Belluz, 9/20).

Washington Post: The world’s leaders are finally holding a summit on superbugs
“…The meeting underscores the growing awareness by governments as well as disease experts that drug resistance is not just a health problem but an enormous economic and security threat. It’s also an international threat, because drug resistance spreads easily across species and throughout the world, observing no political boundaries…” (Sun, 9/20).

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