GS Paper 3
Syllabus: Biotechnology-related issues.
Context: UNEP released a new report – Bracing for Superbugs: Strengthening environmental action in the One Health response to antimicrobial resistance.
- It provides evidence that the environment plays a key role in the development, transmission, and spread of Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR).
About AMR:
- Antimicrobials are agents intended to kill or inhibit the growth of microorganisms. They include antibiotics, fungicides, antiviral agents, and parasiticides.
- AMR occurs when microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, parasites, or fungi become resistant to antimicrobial treatments to which they were previously susceptible.
Key findings of the report:
- Up to 10 million deaths could occur annually by 2050 due to antimicrobial resistance (AMR), on par with the 2020 rate of global deaths from cancer.
- Pollution in key sectors of the economy contributes to the development, transmission, and spread of AMR.
- AMR’s economic toll could result in a GDP drop of at least USD 3.4 trillion annually by 2030, pushing 24 million more people into extreme poverty
- Microorganisms (particularly bacteria) can acquire resistance following contact with resistant microorganisms.
- AMR challenges are linked to the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste.
- Three key sectors of AMR development and spread in the environment: Pharmaceuticals and other chemical manufacturing, agriculture and food production, and Healthcare.
Suggestions in the report:
- Create robust and coherent national-level governance, planning, regulatory and legal frameworks.
- Increase global efforts to improve integrated water management and promote water, sanitation, and hygiene to limit the development and spread of AMR.
- Increase integration of environmental considerations into AMR National Action Plans.
- Establish international standards for what constitutes a good microbiological indicator of AMR
- Environmental monitoring and surveillance
- AMR requires a One Health response that recognizes that the health of people, animals, plants, and the environment are closely linked and interdependent.
Insta Links:
Tackling antimicrobial resistance
Mains Link:
What is anti-microbial resistance (AMR)? What are the factors that lead to AMR? Evaluate India’s preparedness in dealing with it. Do you think one health approach is a better way forward to deal with it?
