UN calls superbugs ‘fundamental threat’
All 193 UN member states are presenting a united front against the spread of drug-resistant infections that are estimated to kill more than 700,000 people each year. The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, said antimicrobial resistance was a “fundamental threat” to global health. Without containment, the economic impact of the crisis makes it unlikely for the UN to reach its sustainable development goals for 2030, says the World Bank, while the World Health Organization director general, Margaret Chan, said that common diseases like gonorrhea may become untreatable. “Doctors facing patients will have to say, ‘I’m sorry – there’s nothing I can do for you.’”
UN meeting tackles the ‘fundamental threat’ of antibiotic-resistant superbugs