Health in a post-pandemic EU
As this magazine goes to press, the World Health Organisation has registered just shy of seven million global deaths due to COVID-19. It also has registered over 13.5 billion doses of vaccines administered. When it comes to health, it’s truly an extraordinary period to be alive. And to stay alive, if all works out as it seems to be doing.
As this magazine goes to press, the World Health Organisation has registered just shy of seven million global deaths due to COVID-19. It also has registered over 13.5 billion doses of vaccines administered. When it comes to health, it’s truly an extraordinary period to be alive. And to stay alive, if all works out as it seems to be doing.
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HEALTH IN A POST-PANDEMIC <strong>EU</strong><br />
Prescrib<strong>in</strong>g our<br />
way out: The <strong>EU</strong>’s<br />
fight aga<strong>in</strong>st<br />
antimicrobial<br />
resistance<br />
The silent <strong>pandemic</strong> that’s still too silent.<br />
By CHRISTOPH SCHWAIGER<br />
“It’s not go<strong>in</strong>g perfect,” said Danish MEP<br />
Pernille Weiss (EPP) about the <strong>EU</strong>’s fight<br />
aga<strong>in</strong>st antimicrobial resistance (AMR).<br />
With 35,000 citizens dy<strong>in</strong>g every year directly<br />
due to AMR, it’s an issue Europe is<br />
struggl<strong>in</strong>g to conta<strong>in</strong>. Apart from the significant<br />
loss of life, it also hits economies<br />
hard, cost<strong>in</strong>g around €1.1 billion to the<br />
healthcare systems of <strong>EU</strong>/EEA countries.<br />
Weiss is the lead negotiator for the <strong>EU</strong>’s<br />
pharmaceutical directive. She also sits<br />
on the EP’s ENVI committee which deals<br />
with the topic of AMR.<br />
Bacteria are said to be resistant when,<br />
despite be<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> the presence of antibiotics<br />
meant to kill them, they manage<br />
to survive and cont<strong>in</strong>ue to cause illness.<br />
Similarly, parasites, viruses, and fungi can<br />
also develop a resistance to drugs that<br />
target them. In 2022, the European Commission<br />
designated AMR as one of three<br />
priority health threats.<br />
Should the <strong>EU</strong> step <strong>in</strong>?<br />
Despite the clear and quantifiable consequences<br />
of <strong>in</strong>adequate measures aga<strong>in</strong>st<br />
AMR, a jo<strong>in</strong>t report by the European<br />
Centre for Disease Prevention and Control<br />
(ECDC) and WHO <strong>in</strong> 2019 found that<br />
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