Manila – An estimated 5.2 million people in the Western Pacific Region are expected to die as a result of drug-resistant bacterial infections between now and the end of 2030, according to the first World Health Organization (WHO) regional assessment on health and economic impact of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) released today.
The assessment found that AMR will cost the Western Pacific Region an estimated total of US$ 148 billion between 2020 and 2030 – nearly 10% of the Region’s total health expenditure in 2019 – due to lost productivity and additional health-care expenses associated with prolonged hospitalizations. By the end of 2030, patients with antimicrobial-resistant infections in the Region will spend an estimated 172 million extra days in hospital.
Health and Economic Impacts of Antimicrobial Resistance in the Western Pacific Region 2020–2030, produced by WHO in the Western Pacific Region, warns that the “silent pandemic” of AMR is not only endangering people’s health but also threatening future health security and development in the Region.
“In the 21st century, people’s lives should not be needlessly cut short due to common infections that become resistant to available treatments,” says Dr Zsuzsanna Jakab, WHO Acting Regional Director for the Western Pacific. “To fight antimicrobial resistance, we must strengthen national AMR surveillance systems, reduce inappropriate and unnecessary use of antimicrobials and work across sectors to expand research and development into new antimicrobial medicines, vaccines and diagnostic tools.”
In 2020, AMR caused far more deaths in the Western Pacific Region than tuberculosis or HIV/AIDS. Compared to noncommunicable diseases, AMR caused a similar number of deaths to diabetes, liver cirrhosis and breast cancer.
The report includes regional estimates prepared by the WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control at The University of Hong Kong on the health and economic impact of AMR for seven bacterial pathogens – methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Escherichia coli (E. coli), Enterococcus faecalis, Haemophilus influenzae, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Streptococcus pneumoniae. Two of the pathogens, MRSA and E. coli, will account for more than 80% of deaths – roughly 4 million lives – over the next decade.
AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines, making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease transmission and severe illness. As a result of drug resistance, antibiotics and other antimicrobial medicines become ineffective and infections become increasingly difficult or impossible to treat.
In the context of this study, AMR refers to antibiotic resistance, that is resistance to medicines that treat bacterial infections. The report excludes resistance to other antimicrobial agents, such as those that treat viral, fungal or parasitic infections, to avoid duplication of other work on diseases such as tuberculosis, HIV and malaria.
Region targets progress on tackling AMR
AMR is one of the four thematic priorities of the For the Future vision of making the Western Pacific the world’s healthiest and safest region. Through the Regional Framework for Accelerating Action to Fight Antimicrobial Resistance, WHO is working with Member States to mitigate the impact of AMR; however, to date, the fight has been hampered by inadequate data.
This report is the first step in providing countries with local intelligence on which to base timely and cost-effective interventions to combat AMR, while advocating for the need to collect more and better-quality data to understand its future threat to health in more detail.
Countries must work to further accelerate implementation, monitoring and regular revision of national AMR action plans. Allocation of sufficient financial and human resources for national AMR action plans is essential for proper implementation. Countries also need to strengthen national AMR surveillance systems to inform policy and clinical practice, antimicrobial stewardship to further reduce overuse and misuse of antimicrobials, and infection prevention and control. In parallel, carefully designed studies are needed to fill knowledge gaps and inform feasible, cost-effective solutions.
AMR also requires policy and financial attention proportionate to its impact. Money spent now on interventions to control and combat AMR will be an investment for the future, saving on future health-care costs and protecting the workforce and economies.