Antimicrobial Resistance is a Global Problem

Abstract

Infectious agents resistance to antimicrobials remains a challenging open problem of health care around the world. As a result, treatment-induced infections pose a serious threat to public health in general. This problem has become so important that the overwhelming majority of countries consider it a threat to the national security. Resistance to antimicrobials threatens to offset the very fundamentals of modern medicine and the sustainability of the public health system effective global response to a permanent infectious diseases threat. Today, antimicrobial resistance issues can be tackled provided that one implements an effective One Health approach (the principle of human and animal health interrelation), assuming that there is a coordination between different sectors and subjects, including experts in medicine, veterinary medicine, agriculture, ecology, and well-informed consumers. To ensure effectiveness of treatment, action is urgently needed to counteract the further development and spread of antibiotic resistance, which is driven by antibiotic use in all sectors. Since this resistance has no ecological, sectoral or geographical borders, its appearance in one sector affects resistance in other sectors. National authorities, veterinarians, physicians, patients and farmers all have key roles in preserving the power of antibiotics. The prevention and containment of antibiotic resistance therefore requires addressing all risk factors for the development and spread of antibiotic resistance across the full spectrum of conditions, sectors, settings (from health care to use in food-animal production) and countries. This article explores the options for prevention and containment of antibiotic resistance in the food-chain through national coordination, including the regulation and reduction of antibiotic use in food animals, training and capacity building, surveillance of resistance trends and antibiotic usage, promotion of knowledge and research, and advocacy and communication to raise awareness of the issues. The article suggests possible ways for adopting a holistic, intersectoral, multifaceted approach to this growing problem.