Antimicrobial resistance poses major global health threat

The World Health Organisation (WHO) categorises antimicrobial resistance (AMR) as one of the top global public health threats. Antimicrobials (that is antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals and antiparasitics) being overprescribed and misused is contributing to the development of drug-resistant pathogens. AMR happens over time as pathogens (including bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites) mutate – those resistant to the antimicrobials they were previously susceptible to survive, multiply and spread. The more microbes are exposed to pharmaceuticals, the more likely they are to adapt and develop resistance. This happens in all areas and at all income levels and has global ramifications. Infections become harder to treat, surgeries become riskier and more people die. Modern medicines that were once able to quickly and effectively treat a raft of ailments from tuberculosis to urinary tract infections become progressively more ineffective. In 2019, AMR was estimated to be directly responsible for 1.27 million deaths and a contributing factor in 4.95 million deaths.

Paul Murray, CEO Life & Health Reinsurance at Swiss Re, has written about this ‘silent pandemic’. He calls out the overprescription of antibiotics during the other pandemic, with a reported 75% of patients hospitalised for Covid-19 being treated with antibiotics despite only 8% having bacterial co-infections. He highlights that the impacts are unequally distributed, with those in more vulnerable regions being disproportionally affected, with death rates in sub-Saharan Africa double those of developed countries. Climate change and its accompanying extreme weather, climate-driven migration and warfare are all  vectors expected to intensify exposure to drug-resistant pathogens.

In addition to health impacts, AMR is increasingly causing significant financial impacts. In the US, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has calculated antibiotic resistance can add as much as $1,400 to hospital bills for patients with bacterial infections. When standard treatments regiments for infections don’t work any longer, complex, often costly, treatment regimens need to be explored. Last resort antibiotics tend to be particularly expensive.

If you want to read more, Swiss Re has published ‘Antimicrobial resistance: a silent threat to our future’, available here.

WHO warns loneliness is a pressing global health threat

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has proclaimed that loneliness is a pressing global health threat. The WHO has launched a three-year commission that will attempt to shape global policy by analysing high-risk areas of social isolation and encouraging government to foster new mental health solutions.

Research shows that social isolation and loneliness can have serious impacts on older people’s physical and mental health, quality of life and longevity. Lonely and socially isolated elderly people are at higher risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes, cognitive decline, dementia, depression, anxiety and suicide. Loneliness can have comparable effects on mortality as other risk factors such as smoking, obesity and physical inactivity, with a 2015 meta-analysis found that people with chronic loneliness had a 26% increased risk of mortality. While more often experienced by people of an older age, young people are at risk too, with an estimated 5% to 15% of adolescents experiencing loneliness.

The issues presented by loneliness and social isolation are getting more recognition by those in leadership, with the United Kingdom appointing a ‘loneliness minister’ in 2018 and Japan following suit in 2021.

The WHO suggest a range of individual, community-level and societal-level strategies and interventions that can help reduce social isolation and loneliness. Suggestions range from social skills training and social activity groups at the individual level to improving infrastructure such as transport to creating laws and policies that address social cohesion and socio-economic inequality.

If you’re experiencing loneliness there are a range of organisations that can offer you help.