Joint EU - US task force to combat antimicrobial resistance
On Tuesday 3rd November, at the EU-US Summit, President-in-Office of the Council of the EU Fredrik Reinfeldt and US President Barack Obama decided to establish a `joint task force to combat antimicrobial resistance.`
The increase and spread of antimicrobial resistance is a rapidly growing global problem. Without access to effective antimicrobials, there is a risk that modern medical treatments such as operations, transplants, intensive care, cancer treatment and care of premature babies will become impossible or associated with major risks. Its impact in the form of human suffering and socioeconomic costs is probably even greater in developing countries and therefore various health organisations in India need to work towards getting this issue on the government agenda. Time magazine has also concurrently focused on this subject with an article A Looming Drug Crisis: The Dearth of New Antibiotics in which Professor Otto Cars, director of ReAct - Action on Antibiotic Resistance says that " We are facing a rapidly spreading pandemic and there is a desperate need for new antibiotics". The Indian media also needs to focus on this issue and spread awareness.