Drug-defying germs, which can spread internationally in infected travelers in hours, threaten to reverse a century of progress in human and animal health, and are a risk to global food security, the Food and Agriculture Organization said on Feb. 10.
“How can we reduce rural poverty when the drugs given to ill farm workers and their families no longer have effect?” FAO Deputy Director-General Maria Helena Semedo told European ministers of health and agriculture at a conference on antimicrobial resistance in Amsterdam. “How can we eliminate hunger or improve sustainability when we cannot cure sick animals?”
Rich countries began using antibiotics once the incidence of infectious diseases had plummeted following public-health improvements. In India, antibiotics are often used as a substitute for sanitation and hygiene, said researcher Laxminarayan, who is director of the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy. Consequently, the nation shoulders among the highest rates of antibiotic resistance in the world.
