The Threat Of Antimicrobial Resistance & The Role Of War and Conflict

The response to AMR has been fractured by differences between healthcare systems, political situations and economic levels of each country with the zones of war and conflict being especially susceptible to AMR. An article by the React Group indicates that some form of AMR has been reported in all recent conflict zones; countries including Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria, Palestinian territories and Iraq. Research and analysis carried out in 2018 by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) suggested that 70% of patients at their Trauma Centre in Aden had antibiotic-resistant bacteria present in their systems. Another MSF report on patients in a post-operative care facility in East Mosul in Iraq similarly indicated high levels of AMR. It reported that between April and mid-November in 2018, 40% of patients had a microbiologically confirmed infection and that 90% of these patients had what is known as multidrug-resistant infections. These figures strongly outline the severity of AMR in war-torn countries, another devastating consequence of war and conflict that adds to the vulnerability of the people in these regions.