Topic:
Country: United States of America
Delegate Name: Sreejay Ramakrishnan
World Health Organization
Antibiotic Resistance
United States of America
Sreejay Ramakrishnan
Antibiotic resistance is an issue that is plaguing the world and the healthcare system today. Though antibiotics are used to treat infections and have numerous benefits, it has resulted in misuse and overuse. This combination has led to antibiotic resistance, allowing diseases to become even more deadly. Antibiotic resistance leads to higher medical costs, prolonged hospital stays, and increased death rates. Additionally, it threatens healthcare progress, food production, and ultimately life expectancy – every single part of the world is being affected by antibiotic resistance and it continues to spread, especially through the travel and transmission of humans, animals, and goods. Some infections that suffer from antibiotic resistance are pneumonia, tuberculosis, and certain food-borne diseases. In the U.S. alone, more than 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections occur each year. To continue that trend, more than 1.27 million people worldwide die from antibiotic and drug-resistant infections each year. If not dealt with, the UN warns that drug-resistant diseases could cause 10 million deaths each year. This is a prominent issue that the UN needs to take an effort to address. We need to ensure that infection control and prevention stay strong. The World Health Organization has taken action on this in recent years at the World Health Assembly in May 2015. The “Global Action Plan on antimicrobial resistance” aims to improve awareness and understanding of antimicrobial resistance, strengthen surveillance and research, reduce the incidence of infection, optimize the use of antimicrobial medicines, and ensure sustainable investments in countering antimicrobial resistance. The WHO has also supported The Global Microbial Resistance Surveillance System (GLASS) standardized the approach to collecting, analyzing, and sharing data relating to antimicrobial resistance worldwide to inform decision-making and drive local, national, and regional action.
This is an issue in the United States as well. The United States of America will work domestically and internationally to prevent, detect, and control infections and diseases caused by antibiotic resistance, according to the U.S. National Plan for Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria (National Action Plan or CARB). The purpose of this plan is to partner with foreign governments, individuals, and organizations, and strengthen healthcare and public health, veterinary medicine, agriculture, food safety, and research and manufacturing. The goals of the National Action Plan are to slow the emergence of resistant bacteria, prevent the spread of resistant infections, strengthen national One Health surveillance efforts, advance the development and use of rapid and innovative diagnostic tests for the identification and characterization of resistant bacteria, accelerate basic and applied research and development for new antibiotics, antifungals, other therapeutics, and vaccines, and lastly improve international collaboration and capacities for antimicrobial-resistance prevention, surveillance, control, and drug research and development.
The United States of America urges that Nations worldwide work together to ensure that antibiotic resistance is not as much of a prevalent issue for the world and the healthcare community. We hope that Nations will adopt similar plans as the US in order to Increase life expectancy, healthcare progress, and food production. The United States also Is inclined to work with nations in the UN to ensure this improvement in our worldwide Society. Governments in the UN should continue working together and being part of organizations and actions including GLASS and the Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance that the World Health Organization continues to improve
