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Antimicrobials, agents that are intended to kill or inhibit the growth of microbes, are widely used in healthcare as well as crop and animal production. Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) occurs when these microbes become resistant to the treatments that they were once susceptible to. Biological and chemical pollutants, through human activities, enter the environment and can fundamentally influence the development, transmission, and spread of AMR. AMR is already a leading threat to global health and risks adversely affecting the environmental sustainability of the planet.
The United Nations Environmental Assembly (UNEA) in 2017 recognized the importance of the environment in the development and spread of AMR in humans and requested a report on the gaps in understanding these impacts and causes. This was followed by a consultative process engaging more than 50 stakeholders all over the world. The highlights of the full report, which will be released later, can be found in this paper here. Some of the key takeaways from the paper are
A knowledge gap
exists in -
-Knowing the global
burden of AMR
-Relative importance
of various pollution sources and related procedural dynamics.
-Identification and
characterisation of risk to biodiversity and ecosystems.
-Better understanding
of roles of antimicrobials, aides such as metals and biocides and other
compounds such as microplastics in AMR.
-High temperatures
linked to increased antimicrobial resistant infections.
-Extreme climate
events and flooding cause wastewater-driven contamination.
-Greater pressure on
food systems pushing the need for large use of antimicrobials.
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