UN pledges to cut superbug deaths by 2030

Global leaders have agreed to reduce the number of people dying from superbugs by 2030.

The United Nations declaration aims for a 10% fall in deaths caused by antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the phenomenon where bacteria evolve to resist the drugs most commonly used to treat them. As things stand, antimicrobial resistance is predicted to kill 39 million people in the next 25 years.

At the UN General Assembly in New York, officials from 193 countries pledged to make progress in tackling the superbugs crisis. It is the second political declaration on the issue of AMR, with the previous one agreed in 2016.

Signatories have agreed to:

• Have basic water, sanitation, hygiene and waste management services in all healthcare facilities by 2030;

• Commit $100 million to help at least 60% of countries fund their national action plans on addressing AMR;

• Prevent and address the discharge of antimicrobials into the environment.

Antimicrobials, which include antibiotics, are life-saving drugs that are increasingly losing their effectiveness. This leads to deadly superbugs that cause infections which are difficult or impossible to treat.

The overuse and misuse of antibiotics in agriculture and human medicine has been the greatest contributor to the emergence of superbugs. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism has been covering the topic for more than a decade, and was in New York to witness the declaration.

One by one, each delegate stood and committed to the pledge. Each had three minutes to speak.

David Lammy, the foreign secretary, represented the UK. He said: “To those who say that the world is too divided to agree on anything meaningful, we have shown how wrong they are but this is only the beginning … Let us together ensure that future generations, no matter where they are born, look back at this moment as a time when we collectively resolved to secure this incredible life-saving gift for all humanity.”

The political declaration has gone through multiple drafts since May this year as states negotiated various wordings.

Experts: it’s a step forward

While some were disappointed, experts have said the declaration is a start. However, others noted that the document lacks measurable targets that could have encouraged countries to reduce the use of critically important antibiotics in food and farming, and prevent the spread of AMR into the environment.

AMR can spread in the environment through spraying crops, drugs getting into the water at pharmaceutical factories and hospitals and even unused antibiotics being thrown away in the home.

The food and farming industry is responsible for more than 70% of all the antibiotics used in the world.

“The political declaration [...] is not as far as I would like it to go but it’s a step ahead. [...] For the first time it recognises that in the AMR challenge we have to focus on prevention [of infections],” said Sunita Narain, an environmentalist who helped draft the declaration.

She added: “Till now AMR has always been an issue about more money for drug companies, it’s been about surveillance. But never really understanding that [...] across the world, the issue of prevention is going to be even more important to protect us from this silent pandemic. This also links to the issue of clean water and sanitation because if you prevent the disease from happening [...] you bring down the burden of AMR.”

“AMR actually turned my life upside down,” John Kariuki Muhia, a Kenyan vet, said. He had survived a drug-resistant infection after surgery for a fractured hip. The infection kept him in hospital for five months. He told the UN: “I urge all stakeholders now to implement their agreements reached today in this historic meeting.”

What happens next?

Once the formal processes are complete, everyone involved – from governments to pharmaceutical companies to farmers – will work out how the agreement will be implemented, including targets and money that must be raised. There will be another high-level meeting on AMR in five years’ time.