, Columnist
The World's Next Big Health Emergency Is Already Here
Covid-19 has claimed nearly 6 million lives. Antimicrobial resistance may claim 10 million annually by 2050 — and that figure is starting to look low.
What have we learned from this pandemic?
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If we look on the bright side of the past two years, Covid should at least mean we’ll be ready for the next major threat from infectious disease. We know how to prepare, we have more advanced technology, we’ve strengthened public-health protocols. And governments have learned just how quickly science can move when offered the right incentives.
All of these learnings are needed already — in the fight against growing antimicrobial resistance (AMR), or infections that don’t respond to drugs.