Mathew Bobai

By Istifanus Anekoson Joshua, Mathew Bobai and Clement Sokfa Woje

Infections caused by micro-organisms affect the health of people and animals, causing morbidity and mortality, with Asia and Africa as the epicenters. Some of the infectious diseases are emerging and re-emerging in nature. Examples include viral hepatitis, Lassa fever, Ebola, yellow fever, tuberculosis, covid-19, measles, and malaria, among others. Antimicrobials have been playing an important role in the treatment of infections by these microbes. However, there has been a development of resistance to these antimicrobials as a result of many drivers. This write-up used secondary data to explore the management of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) beyond the hospital antimicrobial resistance steward using the one health concept. The findings showed AMR to be a transboundary, multifaceted ecosystem problem affecting both the developed and developing countries. It is also one of the top ten global public health threats facing mankind. Globally, AMR will cost over US$100 trillion in output loss by 2050, about 700,000 deaths a year, and 4,150,000 deaths in Africa by 2050. About 2.4 million people could die in high-income countries between 2015 and 2050 without a sustained effort to contain AMR. The drivers of AMR are beyond the hospital and hospital AMR stewardship. Therefore, the need for one health concept to manage it.

Part of the book: The Global Antimicrobial Resistance Epidemic