Antibiotic stewardship continues to be an essential component of safety and quality patient care in our hospital settings. Annually, at least 700,000 people die from drug-resistant diseases, and that number is expected to increase to 10 million deaths per year by 2050 if nothing is done. Because of this growing emergency, the United Nations created the Interagency Coordinating Group on Antimicrobial Resistance. The UN also published a report stating that without immediate global action, the crisis of drug resistant bacteria and viruses is putting us on a trajectory towards an economic catastrophe as bad as the 2008-2009 global financial crisis. By 2030, it could force as many as 24 million people into poverty.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in the U.S., antimicrobial resistance causes more than 2 million infections and 23,000 deaths per year – the equivalent of a Boeing 747 crashing each week. Unfortunately, there is no slowdown in sight, as an increasing number of antibiotics lose effectiveness each year. But fortunately, health care settings of all types, including hospitals, are taking action and implementing and advancing antibiotic stewardship programs to optimize patient outcomes today and in the future. To learn more about how your hospital can continue to be part of the solution in being responsible stewards of antibiotics, contact Meg Kilcup at MegK@wsha.org
