How antibiotic misuse, climate change fuelling next pandemic

THE excessive use of antibiotics in health and agriculture is among the factors contributing to pandemics, due to the antimicrobial resistance where diseases that were previously curable start to resist treatment and fight back.

- GCWALISILE.KHANYILE [e-mail]

This was recently revealed by the Minister of Health Dr Aaron Motsoaledi.

"In health and agriculture, we are using antibiotics in a way we shouldn't. We give people antibiotics even when they don't need them. In agriculture, they are even giving it to cows, in dairy farms, etc. And the microbes have decided to resist," Motsoaledi said.

He added that this was unsurprising because if any living organism is attacked, it starts resisting and fighting back.

"So, organisms have decided to fight us back, because we are just showering them with antibiotics," he said.

The minister added that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is making diseases that "we" used to treat in the past untreatable.