Giving Compass' Take:

• Kate Dodson describes the growing interest in fighting antimicrobial resistance and how a One Health approach that understands human health in a larger ecosystem can aid the fight. 

• How does awareness of the issue impact action? How does this issue fit into the SDGs?

• Find out why the scale of antimicrobial resistance threat is unknown. 

More and more governments, corporations, nonprofits, and academic institutions are acknowledging the urgent need for swift, collaborative action to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Misuse and abuse of precious antibiotics has accelerated the rise of drug-resistant infections – so-called superbugs – jeopardizing global health by making formerly harmless ailments potentially deadly.

But the effort to stop AMR, which already kills 700,000 people each year, goes beyond doctors’ offices, pharmacies, and research labs. It stretches to veterinarians and farms, where widespread use of antibiotics in food-producing animals like cows, chickens, and pigs is accelerating the problem.

Strong, sustained action across all sectors is vital if we are to turn back the tide of antimicrobial resistance and keep the world safe.

This concept, known as a “One Health” approach, recognizes that human well-being is inextricably tied to the health of animals and the environment, and that scientific collaboration across disciplines is essential to a healthy world.

Read the full article on fighting superbugs by Kate Dodson at United Nations Foundation.