Antimicrobial Resistance and Climate Change: Interlinked Crises Demanding Global Response
摘要
Climate change and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are natural occurrences, but with human influence they have escalated to pandemic proportions. While often discussed in separate contexts, these two entities may be more aptly considered as a single public health crisis given their reciprocal effects on one another. Climate change exacerbates AMR through direct mechanisms such as increased pathogen growth rate and indirect mechanisms including extreme weather events and access to healthcare, while AMR impacts climate change through factors such as pathogen metabolic changes and effects on biodiversity and industry. These events are increasingly affecting all people, but they have a disproportionate impact on communities and individuals experiencing economic and social vulnerability, further widening existing disparities. In order to improve the well-being of all humans, and moreover to protect all life, global strategies must urgently be implemented which consider sustainability, equity, and advancement of the entire world population. Drawing upon the concept of One Health, further progression of climate change and AMR can be prevented and even reversed by promoting good health and well-being, seeking climate justice, and fostering global partnerships which will commit to and demand accountability for these collective goals.