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Federal Health Minister resolutely combat antibiotic resistance
The increase in antibiotic resistance is posing a growing challenge for healthcare. When such drugs stop working, even small infections can become a major risk. The Federal Ministry of Health wants to combat antibiotic resistance now determined.
Millions killed by multidrug-resistant germs
If the problem of increasing antibiotic resistance is not brought under control soon, researchers are threatened with a horror scenario. According to an earlier study by the Berlin Charité, there could be around 10 million deaths from multidrug-resistant germs by 2050. The Federal Ministry of Health has now announced that it will promote the fight against antibiotic resistance.
Increasing antibiotic resistance is causing more and more deaths worldwide. The Federal Ministry of Health is now funding research projects that, among other things, investigate new measures to prevent the development of resistance. (Image: CrazyCloud / fotolia.com) Antibiotic resistance is increasing
Only last year, an EU Commission warned of massively increasing antibiotic resistance. An estimated 700,000 people are already dying every year from infections caused by pathogens, which are not counteracted by drugs.
Probably the most important point in the fight against antibiotic resistance is to reduce the mass use of such drugs. Because the excessive use of antibiotics in humans and in animal feed and improper ingestion of drugs promotes resistance.
The Federal Ministry of Health will now provide money for research. According to a press release, the ministry is funding seven projects in the funding priority "Antibiotic Resistance and Nosocomial Infections" with around four million euros.
How the population can be better informed
"It can not leave anyone cold that more and more people around the world are dying of germs that are resistant to antibiotics. We must resolutely combat antibiotic resistance - nationally and internationally, "said Federal Health Minister Hermann Gröhe.
"The research projects make an important contribution to broadening the knowledge about the correct handling of antibiotics and to researching new measures for the avoidance of resistance formation."
Knowledge about the handling of antibiotics and the causes of resistance are a fundamental requirement for their proper use. Therefore, a research project will investigate how the population can be better informed about antibiotics and antibiotic resistance.
According to the information, further research projects will address the question of which measures are the most meaningful to avoid antibiotic resistance. Existing measures such as training, hygiene regulations or the formation of regional networks will be reviewed and new measures will be explored before they are used more widely.
Recognize resistance at an early stage
As stated in the communication, the German antibiotic resistance strategy "DART 2020" adopted by the German Federal Cabinet in 2015 provides for measures to detect resistance at an early stage, to maintain and improve treatment options, to prevent infections and to interrupt infection chains at an early stage.
It also aims to raise public awareness of the issue, strengthen the expertise of medical staff and support research and development.
Since reciprocal influence through the use of the same antibiotics in humans and animals on the development of resistance exists, pursue all the goals of "DART 2020" the so-called "one health approach". This means that both human medicine and agriculture and research are taken into account. (Ad)