Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is an emerging global threat. It is impacting the health system and disrupting the efforts towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of eradicating poverty, promoting good health and well-being, reducing inequality, decent work and economic growth, etc. AMR has been identified by WHO as one of the top ten global healthcare threats that are presently claiming 700,000 lives per year. AMR-related mortality is projected to reach 10 million per year by 2050, of which 2 million are projected in India alone. According to a January 2022 publication in the Lancet with data from 204 countries, drug resistant infections were found to have killed 1.27 million people in 2019, this is more than many widely recognized causes of death, such as malaria and HIV/AIDs. Majority of these deaths were reported from sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia. The pandemic has further escalated the problem of AMR with increased, and often unnecessary, antibiotic consumption.
Globally, there has been an increased impetus to address AMR through trans-disciplinary, multi-sectoral, and inclusive approaches. In India too, we need to urgently collaborate and converge to combat this Public Health Challenge using the One Health approach, before it escalates further.
The vibrant Indian Innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem presents a great opportunity of creating impact in the areas of Healthcare, Agriculture, and the Environment. C-CAMP, with its unique positioning as an enabler in the Indian Bioinnovations space, will leverage its networks for the WAAH Accelerator program to integrate the One Health mandate by advancing inter-sectoral collaborations between public health, and animal and environmental health sectors to achieve better public health outcomes. This also aligns well with the One Health mandate of the Government during the year of India’s G20 presidency.
