Antimicrobial resistance: a global one-health problem for all ages

Excerpt

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been declared a major threat to global health, with the potential to reverse advances in treating disease, and impeding other global priorities including human development. The urgent menace of AMR has been recognized by the World Health Organisation Global Action Plan in 2015 [1], the 2016 United Nations General Assembly unanimous commitment to tackle AMR [2], and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) 2017 declaration on AMR [3]. AMR has been highlighted as a major health and economic challenge, with the consequences of failing to meet that challenge falling upon our children and grandchildren. Not only will children bear the burden of rising AMR, they are especially at risk now due to a number of factors. In many studies, children and the elderly are the highest consumers of antimicrobials [4]. In addition, frequently inappropriate doses in children mean that they are receiving sub-therapeutic doses, maximizing the chance of encouraging resistant organisms to flourish. The normal behaviour of early childhood also encourages the spread of resistant organisms between children. Finally, their lifetime risk of exposure to resistant organisms is higher than adults. …