One little girl’s tragic death in an Abuja hospital this summer illustrates a global problem, but one that is worst in Africa where it could kill 4 million people by 2050
The number of people dying is far greater than deaths recorded for malaria, TB and HIV/Aids combined“The situation in the African region is really concerning,” says Dr Mirfin Mpundu, director of ReAct, a network aimed at raising awareness of AMR. “The number of people who are dying where we can’t treat them because we don’t have antibiotics that destroy or kill [the pathogen causing the infection] is far greater than the deaths recorded for malaria, TB and HIV/Aids combined.
“In sub-Saharan Africa, in most regions, either patients have no access to medicine at all or access to suboptimal treatments – either antibiotics for a different type of infection, falsified medicines or antibiotics reserved for treating the most difficult infections,” he says.she conducted with Fred C Tenover, a professor of microbiology at the University of Dayton in the US,
Two plates growing bacteria in the presence of discs containing various antibiotics. The isolate on the left plate is susceptible to the antibiotics on the discs and is unable to grow around them The one on the right is resistant and is able to grow unimpeded.“Antibiotics are hard to get,” she says. “In addition, you have the problem of affordability. Sometimes [patients] are not able to buy them so doctors and nurses contribute money … but there’s only so much staff can do to support.
Healthcare systems across sub-Saharan Africa are weak, adds Mpundu, and lab infrastructure is poor. “We don’t know what we are treating because we are unable to grow bacteria in the lab and see what antibiotics they respond to,” he says.
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