Climate change alters the distribution of infectious disease, mobile species like humans act as vectors for spread whilst slow progress in antimicrobial development limits options for treating increasingly resistance microbes.
In 2020, we witnessed that one virus, Covid-19, could bring healthcare systems to their knees. Infectious diseases presently kill almost 8 million people every year, but this figure will rise as they become more prevalent and spread due to the climate and environmental emergency. This will not only threaten the lives of millions but increase demand on healthcare systems at the very time we are trying to decarbonise.
Antimicrobial resistance is one of the WHO’s top 10 public health threats facing humanity; associated with almost 5 million deaths per year globally; predicted to rise to at least 10 million by 2050. Covid caused an excess mortality of up to 3 million deaths in 2020; only half of what we are already seeing from AMR each year.
At CPDmatch, we therefore consider infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance a key area in which to educate all healthcare professionals.
