Miserly Cuts to the Foreign Aid Budget Will Promote the Spread of Antimicrobial Resistance
If a viral infection can change society as radically as it has in 2020, you would assume protecting the country against future health crises would be a priority for any government. However, the recent 30% cuts to the foreign aid budget show that this government does not have its priorities in order regarding one of the greatest health crises of this century: antimicrobial resistance (AMR). AMR refers to microbes (viruses, fungi, parasites and bacteria) becoming resistant to the antimicrobial medicines designed to treat them, making infections much harder or impossible to treat. The trouble is that modern society depends on antimicrobials for much that we take for granted including disease treatment, surgeries and farming. If our medicines cease to be effective, routine practices become less safe. This will lead to people dying from small wounds, exposes us to food-borne infections and makes it harder to treat secondary infections – which contribute to many COVID-19 deaths. ...