Imagine suffering from an infection, going to the hospital being given the right treatment but the infection declines to clear.
Or you have heard about the Superbug (drug-resistant gonorrhoea) that was wreaking havoc in Nairobi, the sin city, for it could hear none of the prescribed medication. This is what the globe is staring at, infections that have become resistant to drugs.
Antimicrobial resistance fondly referred to as AMR is the ability of infectious microorganisms, both in human beings, animals and plants, to circumvent the mechanism in which their respective antibiotics neutralize them.
In simpler terms, Antimicrobial Resistance is the ability of microbes such as bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites to evolve and render their respective drugs ineffective.
Over the years, AMR has become a major global and public health threat. In 2019, it was responsible for 1.27 million deaths and contributed to 4.95 million deaths globally.
The statistics are not static but they are growing on day-to-day basis as misuse and overuse of antibiotics in human beings, animals and plants persists.
Once a microbe becomes resistant to a certain antibiotic, the resistant microbe has the ability to spread to human beings, animals or plants with the resistivity.
This makes AMR a global public health crisis for there is no adequate research to invent new antibiotics leaving global, regional and national organizations with only one mandate of protecting the existing antibiotics.
If we do not take personal responsibility in protecting the existing antibiotics, in the near future it will become hard to treat diseases like gonorrhoea, tuberculosis, pneumonia and malaria among many others simply because their strains have become resistant to their respective antibiotics.
As we commemorate World Antimicrobial Resistance Week, you can save the world by not misusing and overusing antibiotics either in human beings, animals or plants. This includes taking only prescribed medication and shunning away from over-the-counter drugs.
Other mechanisms include preventing STDs, preparing food safely, washing hands frequently and getting vaccinated.
