Could antibiotics stop working? Yes – but the biggest danger isn’t prescription-happy GPs | Devi Sridhar

IAnd the antibiotics that we use to treat infections have stopped working, the consequences will be disastrous. It is estimated that the use of antibiotics He adds about 20 years Average life expectancy for every person around the world (average). As the King’s Fund said, if we lose antibiotics, “We will lose modern medicine as we know it.” Doctors, public health experts and governments disappear to a threat to anti -microbial resistance (AMR) seriously, but it seems that the problem is getting worse.

Report from National Audit Office In February, it was found that among the five local goals set in 2019 to treat AMR, only one-to reduce the use of antibiotics in food producing animals. Others, such as the goal to reduce drug -resistant infections in humans by 10 %, has not made much progress; In fact, these infections have already increased by 13 % since 2018.

Omar is often misunderstood. I often heard that people say, “I am afraid to take antibiotics and have become resistant to them.” But Amr is not related to individuals who become antibiotic resistance. It comes to pathogens – often bacterial infections, as well as viruses, fungi and parasites – develop into resistance to our current drugs, so that the infections that cause them become unnecessary. Think of the ear, urinary infections, chest infections, or procedures such as sections C and other routine surgeries, and become a threat to life because the medications that we use to treat or prevent infections after medical procedures do not work.

However, I despair in Britain that struck itself with another stick. The country was actually somewhat good in treating AMR. In 2023, our research team leads Jay Patel It published an analysis in the Lancet Deactious Diseases magazine, which measures the global response of Amr in 114 countries. The UK has achieved the three best “best performance” countries with the United States and Norway only, followed by Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Japan. Thanks to the UK sits largely with Mrs. Sally DavisThe chief medical official in England from 2011 to 2019, who made her a priority during her mandate and continues to lead the UK special envoy in Amr. The UK government led national guidelines and supervision of human and animal health in conjunction with the European Union.

We may be concerned that doctors are increasingly prescribing antibiotics in NHS, exposing pathogens unnecessarily and allowing them to develop resistance. But after I worked Omar Governance Before that, my opinion is that the biggest threat is the rise of the emerging resistance pathogens in countries that use huge amounts of antibiotics In their animals For growth and cheap meat. Think of pigs, chicken and livestock in China, Brazil, India and even Until recently, the United States. He is estimated at livestock alone It consumes 50 % to 80 % One of the antibiotics produced in high and medium -income countries. Animal resistance pathogens develop, which are given antibiotics as prevention even when they are in good health. Then they afflict a person, may travel and spread it to other humans. It is a clear formula. Animal antibiotics in addition to farm workers in addition to air travel is equal to drug -resistant infections in the United Kingdom, and elsewhere.

It is not just a theory. In 2018, a Nature study I found that cholesterin -resistant bacteria are widely, including in hospitals in London, can be tracked to one event in 2006 in China when bacteria jumped from pigs to humans. COLISTIN is antibiotics in the last line of some infections, which means that it is given after the failure of other drugs, however it has been widely used to enhance growth in pig cultivation in China. Since these results, the Chinese government, as well as India and Japan, Colettein banned In animal feeding. Perhaps this will have a greater effect on reducing AMR than anything that is done in UK clinics and human description practices.

The UK better protects drug -resistant infections by working with other countries to regulate the use of antibiotics, especially in animals. Davis tried hard to pay this agenda worldwide, and gathered human health experts, agriculture and veterinary to agree on the standards and regulations that are international experts. However, there is a clear conflict with those who argue that enhancing animal production, including cheap and available meat, is priority, especially in medium income countries with a large number of population.

Why can we not only develop new antibiotics if our current posts become ineffective? A simple question and a difficult answer. These are technically difficult drugs to develop and have made very slow progress. The development of versions similar to current antibiotics is not enough because they will not be effective against pathogens that have developed resistance: we need completely new categories of medications. Conversation World Health Organization report Note that since 2017, while 13 new antibiotics have obtained permission, only two represent a new chemical category.

We have the best in photography to treat AMR is to protect our current arsenal from drugs and make sure it is still effective. This means working with other countries on a common approach to how drugs are used in humans and animals. This is a constant challenge, especially in a world where cooperation collapses, and isolation methods. Yes, we can blame the UK government in many things, but regarding the issue of AMR, it is a prominent country and a global leader.

• Professor Devy Sarridhar is the head of global public health at Edinburgh University, and the author of the book ” How do you not die (very soon)