World opinion leader says world sleepwalking towards major health catastrophe

LONDON, 31 Oct. - (ANA) - Professor Timothy Walsh, a world leading authority on antibiotic resistance, told attendees at Antibiotic Research UK’s Annual Lecture in London that the world is sleepwalking into a major health catastrophe. Forget about BREXIT, forget even about climate change, forget about the terrorist threat, antibiotic resistance threatens to kill 10 million people around the world by 2050. Already in countries such as India, Pakistan, Nigeria resistance is endemic. Professor Walsh told the audience that the world population will increase by 20% by 2050 causing even more stress on the world’s overloaded health systems. The rise in antibiotic resistance has increased many fold over the past 20 – 25 years indicating the problem is a recent phenomenon. The poorer and more corrupt the country the higher the rate of resistance. He told about his research in China into an antibiotic called colistin which was used as a growth promoter in pigs. As a result of overuse of this antibiotic colistin resistance in gut

bacteria such as E coli had massively increased. Professor Walsh and his Chinese co-workers had persuaded the Chinese government that colistin should be banned for farm use and reserved only for human treatment (Walsh 2016, The Lancet). Once this policy was enacted somewhat surprisingly colistin resistance has since started to fall.

Professor Walsh said as a result of his research in his opinion most antibiotics should be reserved for human exclusive use only. They should be banned in farming altogether except for the treatment of sick animals or birds. Colistin needs to be removed from agricultural use altogether. One should question the use of other persistent and environmentally stable antibiotics such as the fluoroquinolones in farming.  In some countries such as the USA, more antibiotics are used in the farming sector than for human therapeutic use.

Professor Colin Garner, Antibiotic Research UK’s Chief Executive commented ‘Antibiotics are a lifesaving treatment resource that have helped extend human life expectancy by as much as 20 years. We have abused these precious lifesaving drugs and this needs to stop now. Governments around the world including the UK are not taking this problem seriously enough. There has been too much talk and not enough action. Just like climate change, we must act now to ensure that our children and grandchildren enjoy the same antibiotic benefits we have enjoyed. We have treated the use of these drugs far too casually. Their unnecessary use without taking a One Health approach means that more and more people will die from a resistant infection’.

Professor Timothy R Walsh is currently Professor of Medical Microbiology and Antibiotic Resistance at Cardiff University, Cardiff, in Wales.

The world’s first charity and only charity focussed on tackling bacterial antibiotic resistance. The charity’s mission is to develop new antibiotic treatments, educate the public about resistance and provide patient support. Since its formation in 2014, the charity has funded research, supported academic groups in universities and employed earlier in 2019 the country’s first Patient Support Officer focussed on supporting patients with an antibiotic resistant infection. The charity relies wholly on public donations and receives no government support.

Learn more about Antibiotic Research UK at www.antibioticresearch.org.uk         - (ANA) -

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