When the drugs don’t work

Imagine living where you risk dying from an infection that cannot be treated by antibiotics. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites adapt and no longer respond to medicines. Antibiotics used to save human lives become ineffective, and the infections caused by resistant microbes harder to treat. This increases the risk of disease and death, as well as increasing the risk of spreading infection to others.

The misuse and overuse of antibiotics in human and animal healthcare has placed all nations at risk from AMR. Leaving no one behind is a central promise of the UN Sustainable Development Goals but achieving this is a great challenge, especially in conflict-affected regions where the AMR risk is particularly high. Annual global deaths from AMR infections are predicted to reach at least 10 million by 2050, and AMR does not recognise geographical borders.

The level of AMR in the Middle East is already at alarmingly high levels. The findings of a pilot study conducted in Gaza,¹ found AMR bacteria everywhere the researchers looked: in the water supply of health care facilities, on the surface of hygiene facilities and in the wastewater discharged to public networks. In a besieged area, like Gaza, untreated or partially treated wastewater, including medical wastewater, is discharged to the sea, or seeps back into aquifers.