By Jennifer Yang
Global health reporter, theStar.com Story: http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2014/04/30/drugresistant_bacteria_now_a_global_threat_says_who.html
Growing fears of a post-antibacterial world could eventually become reality, as the WHO has released the results of its first global survey on the issue -the WHO had previously released a strategy for controlling antimicrobial resistance in 2001.
DAVID GOLDMAN / AP FILE PHOTO / found via theStar.com
With the occurrence of superbugs across the globe, achievements of modern medicine – including treatments for diseases such as tuberculosis and gonorrhoea – are at risk of becoming completely undone.
Dr. Keiji Fukuda, the WHO’s assistant director-general for health security, has stated that “What we’re seeing is that the capacity to treat serious infections is really becoming less in all parts of the world.
“The bottom line is we should expect to see that there are going to be some people who simply have untreatable infections,” he later added.
In addition to potentially disastrous implications for those seeking treatment, the spread of superbugs is estimated by some to be costing the healthcare system as much as $34 billion annually.
For the complete story: visit the original theStar.com article here.
