ISLAMABAD/PARIS: The United Nations has warned that superbugs could kill tens of millions of people by mid-century, urging to clean up waterways to contain the silent pandemic.
Superbugs killed 1.27 million people in 2019
The UN said that superbugs or strains of bacteria resistant to antibiotics, were estimated to have killed 1.27 million people in 2019.
The World Health Organisation said that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) was one of the top global health risks in the near future.
The UN said in a report that up to 10 million deaths may occur every year by 2050 because of AMR.
It said that disinfectants, antiseptics and antibiotics that could help microbes become stronger were found everywhere, from toothpaste and shampoo to cow’s milk and wastewater.
The new UN report on Tuesday said that pollution was a key driver in the “development, transmission and spread” of AMR, urging urgent action to clean up the environment.
The UN Environment Programme report said that with increasing pollution and lack of management of pollution sources, combined with AMR in clinical and hospital settings and agriculture, risks were increasing.
It said that antimicrobial resistance was a natural phenomenon, but the overuse and misuse of antibiotics in humans, animals and plants has further complicated the problem.
The report said that antibiotics maight no longer work to fight the very infections they were meant for.
The UN report said that environmental pollution from key economic sectors has further exacerbated the problem, mainly from the pharmaceutical and chemical manufacturing sectors and agriculture and health care sectors.
The report said that berbicides to control weeds on farms could also increase AMR, while heavy metals were also contributing to the problem.
The UN study said that antimicrobial resistant genes were in waterways across the globe from the Ganges River in India to the Cache la Poudre River in the US state of Colorado.
Senior lecturer in microbiology at Britain’s Aston University Jonathan Cox told AFP that this was a real issue, because rivers were often the source of drinking water.
Cox warned that it was already the silent pandemic and it was becoming “the next silent pandemic without us really recognizing it.”
The UN urged global governments and international agencies to address “key pollution sources,” including sewage, city waste, health care delivery, pharmaceutical manufacturing and intensive crop sectors.
