More than three million children in the world have died in one year - not from new viruses, not from unknown diseases, but from the usual infections that are no longer treatable. The reason is the growing resistance of bacteria to antibiotics, which were considered a guarantee of survival.
The world medical consensus has long acknowledged that we are losing control of antibiotics. Drugs that have previously destroyed the most dangerous infections are now increasingly powerless. Bacteria adapt faster than pharmacists have time to invent new remedies. And children - especially in low -access regions - are the first to pay life for this evolution.
According to new research, the worst situation is in Africa and Southeast Asia. But the consequences of this medical catastrophe have no borders.
The so -called "reserve" antibiotics - those that should be used only in exceptional cases - have long been used as standard practice. And this is the main threat. Their mass purpose during the pandemic, in particular against the background of the Covid-19, created the ideal conditions for the development of supersonfection.
In some countries, their consumption has almost doubled. And this means only one thing: the next time a person really needs a "reserve" - he may no longer work.
Production of new antibiotics is an expensive and slow process. And today it loses the race. Pharmaceutical companies do not have economic motivation to invest billions in drugs that will quickly lose efficiency. And states do not have time to respond to challenges with the required level of systematicity.
There is a solution, but it is difficult to call it. The world should change the philosophy of the use of antibiotics: not to "treat just in case", but to introduce clear restrictions, control over sale, strict monitoring in hospitals and veterinary medicine. In parallel - to invest in sanitation, vaccination and access to safe water.
Doctors say that combating antibiotic resistance is not just about pills. It's about state policy, treatment culture and basic medical education.
Failure to do so will stop being salvation in the coming years. And then simple diseases will become deadly again.
