A child arrives at hospital with an ordinary infection. The first-line antibiotic no longer works, the second-line drug is out of stock, and the doctor waits. Nothing about the scene is exceptional: according to a study published in The Lancet in 2024, more than a million deaths in 2021 were directly attributable to bacteria resistant to medicines. President Macky Sall places this threat among the health priorities of his candidacy for the office of UN Secretary-General.
A silent erosion. Every needless use of an antibiotic, in people and in animals, selects the bacteria that resist it. A sore throat, a caesarean section or a course of chemotherapy becomes more dangerous than it was twenty years ago.
The 2024 target. In September 2024, at a high-level meeting, states adopted a political declaration aiming for a ten per cent cut in deaths associated with bacterial resistance by 2030, against 2019. The goal is numbered, so it can be checked.
Too little, and too much. In many poor countries patients die for lack of antibiotics while others take them without need. The two problems are treated together: laboratories to identify the bacterium and prescriptions followed, with medicines of good quality.
Four organizations, one file. The World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organization, the Environment Programme and the World Organisation for Animal Health share this fight under the "One Health" approach. The Secretary-General can bring them around a single plan, with a public report each year.
Coherence first. The third pillar of the vision statement filed with the United Nations calls for an Organization that works. On this file, that means a mandate shared among four institutions must not turn into a diluted responsibility.
Africa at its heart, the world in its sights.
The political declaration of the September 2024 high-level meeting on antimicrobial resistance and the study published in The Lancet in 2024 are public. Read all public positions at www.mackysall.net