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The World Health Organization (WHO) warned Friday that growing antimicrobial resistance is every bit as dangerous as the coronavirus pandemic — and threatens to reverse a century of medical progress.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called the issue “one of the greatest health threats of our time”.

Resistance is when bugs become immune to existing drugs — antibiotic, antiviral or antifungal treatments — rendering minor injuries and common infections potentially deadly.

Resistance has grown in recent years due to overuse of such drugs in humans and also in farm animals.

“Antimicrobial resistance may not seem as urgent as a pandemic but it is just as dangerous,” Tedros told a virtual press conference.

“It threatens to unwind a century of medical progress and leave us defenceless against infections that today can be treated easily,” he said.

The WHO said antimicrobial resistance was endangering food security, economic development and the planet’s ability to fight diseases.

Resistance has led to increased health care costs, hospital admissions, treatment failures, severe illnesses and deaths, the UN health agency said.


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