WHO "Reduce Antibiotic Use in Agriculture and Food... 5 Million Annual Deaths Due to Resistance"

"Antibiotic Effect Diminishes, Making Infection Treatment More Difficult"

WHO

The World Health Organization (WHO) is urging restraint in the use of antibiotics in agriculture and food production and is launching a campaign in collaboration with related United Nations agencies.

From the 18th (local time) to the 24th, WHO will operate World Antibiotic Awareness Week, working together with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and others to promote the responsible use of antibiotics.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other microorganisms no longer respond to antibiotics. This renders antibiotics ineffective and makes infections harder to treat, raising concerns about the worsening and spread of diseases.

According to WHO, more than 5 million people die each year from bacterial infections caused by antimicrobial resistance.

To jointly address the issue of antimicrobial resistance, WHO will hold a high-level meeting of environment and health ministers in Muscat, the capital of Oman, on the final day of Awareness Week, the 24th.

At this meeting, a joint declaration outlining measures to prevent the overuse of antibiotics in the health, agriculture, and environmental sectors is expected to be announced.

The joint declaration includes a goal to reduce the total use of antibiotics in the agriculture and food sectors by 30 to 50% from current levels by 2030.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.