Maverick Citizen Op-Ed: Drug-resistant infections: The silent pandemic that must be tackled now

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The unchecked growth of drug-resistant infections is a silent pandemic with long-term implications for global health security. As the world reels from the impact of Covid-19, it would be a tragedy not to apply the lessons we are learning to the fight against drug resistance.

Drug-resistant “superbug” infections kill an estimated 700,000 people a year worldwide, a number set to rise exponentially as drug resistance grows and weakens our ability to treat even common infections.

Africa is in a particularly precarious position. The continent has the largest burden of endemic diseases, such as HIV, TB and malaria and is faced with emerging infectious pathogens and a growing threat of antimicrobial resistance . With the ever-present threat caused by the overuse and misuse of antibiotics, South Africa is playing its part to step up to the challenges of AMR.

The SAMRC Centre for the Study of Antimicrobial Resistance consists of a multi-disciplinary team of national and international experts focused on addressing specific aspects of bacterial multidrug resistant pathogens, including tuberculosis. As a first-in-class treatment, zoliflodacin is active against drug-resistant strains of gonorrhoea. Every year, there are 87 million new gonorrhoea infections globally.

The evolving pandemic of drug-resistant infections has the potential to cripple the world in the same way that Covid-19 has done this year. However, unlike with Covid-19, we know what it will take to combat drug resistance.

 

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