This year’s World Health Day theme of “My Health, My Right” should serve as a wake-up call to take decisive action to preserve precious antibiotics, which are fast losing their efficacy on account of increasingly drug-resistant bacterial strains, making even common infections lethally incurable. A global health threat of alarming proportions which, according to WHO, could cause 10 million deaths a year by 2050 if not effectively curbed, antibiotic resistance is resulting in increased morbidity, mortality and healthcare costs.
This grim situation calls for urgent remedial measures to extend the shelf life and efficacy of existing antibiotics by developing novel antibiotic solutions. Sustainable antibiotic research and development, therefore, has a crucial role to play in stemming the tide of resistant bacteria. However, that in itself is a challenge owing to high cost of research, poor profitability, lack of funding and regulatory hurdles.
