Key facts
- Infections caused by resistant microorganisms often fail to respond to conventional treatment, resulting in prolonged illness and greater risk of death.
- About 440 000 new cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) emerge annually, causing at least 150 000 deaths.
- Resistance to earlier generation antimalarial medicines such as chloroquine and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine is widespread in most malaria-endemic countries.
- A high percentage of hospital-acquired infections are caused by highly resistant bacteria such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
- Inappropriate and irrational use of antimicrobial medicines provides favourable conditions for resistant microorganisms to emerge, spread and persist.
What drives antimicrobial resistance (AMR)?
Inappropriate and irrational use of medicines provides favourable conditions for resistant microorganisms to emerge and spread. For example, when patients do not take the full course of a prescribed antimicrobial or when poor quality antimicrobials are used, resistant microorganisms can emerge and spread.
Underlying factors that drive AMR include:
- inadequate national commitment to a comprehensive and coordinated response, ill-defined accountability and insufficient engagement of communities;
- weak or absent surveillance and monitoring systems;
- inadequate systems to ensure quality and uninterrupted supply of medicines
- inappropriate and irrational use of medicines, including in animal husbandry:
- poor infection prevention and control practices;
- depleted arsenals of diagnostics, medicines and vaccines as well as insufficient research and development on new products.
Combat drug resistance - No action today, no cure tomorrow
The emergence of AMR is a complex problem driven by many interconnected factors; single, isolated interventions have little impact. A global and national multi-sectoral response is urgently needed to combat the growing threat of AMR.
WHO has selected combating antimicrobial resistance as the theme for World Health Day 2011. On this day, WHO issues an international call for concerted action to halt the spread of antimicrobial resistance and recommends a six-point policy package for governments.
WHO calls on all key stakeholders, including policy-makers and planners, the public and patients, practitioners and prescribers, pharmacists and dispensers, and the pharmaceutical industry, to act and take responsibility for combating antimicrobial resistance.
Source: WHO Fact sheet N°194, February 2011, WHO Media center
Inputs: Prof. Sudhi Ranjan Garg
