GIFTS-AMR conference on global research agenda: an impression for a new approach to antibiotic resistance
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), insensitivity of pathogens to antibiotics, is a growing global problem. Worldwide, an estimated 5 million people die every year due to infections against which no effective antibiotic is available. In the coming decades, this number is likely to rise to 10 million. Increasingly, doctors are powerless against deadly infections. In low- and middle-income countries (LMIC), the problem is greatest. Wherever healthcare systems do not function optimally, antibiotics tend to be less well managed, increasing the risk of AMR.
GIFTS-AMR presents a strategic research agenda for a new approach to antibiotic resistance
Treatment without antibiotics
The GIFTS-AMR project advocates an additional approach to AMR: the use of drugs from traditional, complementary and integrative care (TCIH) to treat acute, uncomplicated infectious diseases in humans and animals, and for prevention. The use of these medicines in uncomplicated infections reduces antibiotic use. Antibiotics then remain effective for those situations where they are indispensable. Much more is possible with TCIH approaches than is currently being done, but it requires more knowledge.