Antimicrobial effectiveness leaning towards ‘tipping point’ resistance – FAO

We may soon reach “a tipping point” when antimicrobial resistance (AMR) becomes the leading cause of death – surpassing heart disease and other so-called lifestyle illnesses, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) said on Wednesday.

The warning comes as the World Health Organization’s (WHO) latest HIV Drug Resistance Report revealed that in 2020, 64 per cent of countries with a high burden of HIV infection had national action plans to prevent, monitor and respond to HIV drug resistance.  

The report noted however, that an increasing number of countries are approaching the 10 per cent resistance threshold to pretreatment HIV drugs, which, when reached, must urgently change first-line HIV treatment.  

The report also found that people who have had previous exposure to antiretroviral drugs are three times more likely to resist them.