Antibiotic resistance puts the most vulnerable at further risk, researchers say As many as 750,000 deaths linked to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) could be prevented every year through available vaccines, water and sanitation, and infection control methods, new global analysis shows. The study, published in The Lancet , highlighted how improving and expanding existing methods to prevent infections, such as hand-hygiene, the regular cleaning and sterilisation of equipment in healthcare facilities, availability of safe drinking water, effective sanitation, and the use of paediatric vaccines could prevent thousands of deaths linked to antibiotic resistance every year, particularly in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). Each year an estimated 7.
7 million deaths globally are caused by bacterial infections – one-in-eight of all global deaths, making bacterial infections the second largest cause of death worldwide. Out of these deaths, almost five million are associated with bacteria which have developed resistance to antibiotics. Authors of a new Lancet series on antimicrobial resistance have called for support for sustainable access to antibiotics to be central to ambitious and actionable targets on tackling AMR to be introduced at the United Nations General Assembly this September.
“Access to effective antibiotics is essential to patients worldwide,” said series co-author Prof Iruka Okek. “A failure to provide these antibiotics puts us at risk for not meeting the UN .
