Europe yesterday stepped up efforts to fight antimicrobial resistance, which could kill more people than cancer in 30 years’ time.
The European Commission adopted a new One Health Action Plan to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which is a growing threat responsible for 25,000 deaths and €1.5 billion in economic losses every year in the European Union.
By 2050, drug-resistant infections could cause global economic damage on a par with the 2008 financial crisis.
AMR is the ability of microorganisms, such as bacteria, to become resistant to antimicrobials, like antibiotics.
The rise in AMR is due to a number of factors, including excessive and inappropriate use of antibiotics in humans, veterinary overuse in livestock and poor hygiene in healthcare settings or in the food chain.
Lack of awareness remains a key factor: 57 per cent of Europeans do not know that antibiotics are ineffective against viruses and 44 per cent failed to understand they are ineffective against cold and flu.
The new plan contains concrete action, including promoting the uptake of vaccination to prevent infections and developing guidelines for the prudent use of antimicrobials.
Asked by this newspaper about any plans to tackle the fear of vaccination, a European Commission spokeswoman said research efforts would attempt to understand the resistance to vaccination and how to overcome it.
The Commission would also like to look at alternatives to antibiotics and one of the key areas was vaccines. Promotion of vaccination would be an important part of the action plan.
Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis said AMR was a growing threat that could cause more deaths than cancer by 2050 if we did not step up our action and commitment now.
“The ambitious agenda I present today focuses actions on key areas with the highest added value for EU countries,” he said.
“By promoting prudent use of antimicrobials in people and animals, consolidating surveillance, improving data collection and boosting research, I aim to make the EU a best practice region worthy of shaping the global agenda on AMR in this increasingly interconnected world,” Mr Andriukaitis said.
Boosting research, development and innovation on AMR is one of the pillars of the new action plan. This includes facilitating the sharing of data and supporting research into the development of new effective preventive vaccines for humans and animals.
The Commission is also hoping to shape the global agenda and, among others, collaborate with Sub-Saharan African counterparts on research, particularly in relation to TB, HIV/ AIDS, malaria and neglected infectious diseases.
Meanwhile, in comments given to this newspaper, Health Minister Chris Fearne said Malta is working closely with WHO-Europe in the area of vaccines and immunisation.
“We are following the European Vaccine Action Plan whose major goals include the elimination of measles and rubella and maintaining the polio-free status of the European region,” Mr Fearne told the Times of Malta.
“Malta already has been certified as polio-free and measles and rubella-free for some years now. This is attributable to the efficient National Immunisation Programme which provides our children with a free and accessible vaccination programme.