World Leaders Agree at U.N. on Steps to Curb Rising Drug Resistance
▻http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/22/health/united-nations-drug-resistant-superbugs-antibiotics.html
That groundswell of concern made its way to the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday. Heads of state agreed to develop national action plans to help shore up the effectiveness of the lifesaving drugs in animals and people. They pledged to strengthen regulation and to improve reporting systems that track how the drugs are used. Farms use antibiotics to make animals grow faster, but some countries, particularly in Europe, have cracked down on such use.
The agreement is nonbinding, and did not require countries to commit to specific targets, as the climate treaty signed by world leaders last year did. But it was a first step in a broad effort to tackle the growing problem of drug resistance, which doctors say could eventually render our most prized medicines powerless.
“Having the U.N. discuss this issue is exciting, but it’s up to the member states to make it real,” said Dr. Lance Price, director of the Antibiotic Resistance Action Center at George Washington University. He said it was critical to get the world’s attention now. “If the developing world follows the example that we’ve set, then there’s little hope of preserving antibiotics.”
It was the fourth time the General Assembly had taken up a health issue. Others were H.I.V., noncommunicable disease and Ebola.