<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black"><br></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">WHO DIRECTOR GENERAL's STATEMENT</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">When the first antibiotics were introduced in
the 1940s, they were hailed as “wonder drugs”, the miracles of modern medicine.
And rightly so. Widespread infections that killed many millions of people every
year could now be cured. Major diseases, like syphilis, gonorrhoea, leprosy,
and tuberculosis, lost much of their sting. The risk of death from something so
common as strep throat or a child’s scratched knee virtually vanished.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">The powerful impact of these medicines sparked
a revolution in the discovery of new drugs. The human condition took a dramatic
turn for the better, with signifi cant jumps in life expectancy.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">The message on this World Health Day is loud
and clear. The world is on the brink of losing these miracle cures.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">The emergence and spread of drug-resistant
pathogens has accelerated. More and more essential medicines are failing. The
therapeutic arsenal is shrinking. The speed with which these drugs are being
lost far outpaces the development of replacement drugs.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">In fact, the R&D pipeline for new
antimicrobials has practically run dry.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">The implications are equally clear. In the
absence of urgent corrective and protective actions, the world is heading
towards a post-antibiotic era, in which many common infections will no longer
have a cure and, once again, kill unabated. The implications go beyond a resurgence
of deadly infections to threaten many other life-saving and life-prolonging interventions,
like cancer treatments, sophisticated surgical operations, and organ transplantations.
With hospitals now the hotbeds for highly-resistant pathogens, such procedures
become hazardous.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">While hospital “superbugs” make the biggest
headlines, these especially deadly pathogens are just the extreme expression of
a much broader, and more disturbing picture.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">The development of resistance is a natural
biological process that will occur, sooner or later, with every drug. The use
of any antimicrobial for any infection, in any dose, and over any time period,
forces microbes to either adapt or die in a phenomenon known as</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">“selective pressure”. The microbes which adapt
and survive carry genes for resistance,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">which can be passed on from one person to
another and rapidly spread around the</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">world.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">This natural process has been vastly
accelerated and amplified by a number of human</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">practices, behaviours, and policy failures.
Collectively, the world has failed to handle</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">these fragile cures with appropriate care. We
have assumed that miracle cures will last</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">forever, with older drugs eventually failing
only to be replaced by newer, better and more</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">powerful ones. This is not at all the trend we
are seeing.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:Faktos;mso-bidi-font-family:Faktos;
color:#E10818">COMBAT </span><span style="font-size:18.0pt;font-family:Faktos;
mso-bidi-font-family:Faktos;color:black">DRUG RESISTANCE</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:Faktos;mso-bidi-font-family:Faktos;
color:black">No action today, no cure tomorrow</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:26.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-MediumCond;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-MediumCond;color:#22C5FF">World Health Day 2011</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:28.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-HeavyCondensed;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-HeavyCondensed;color:white">RAL STATEMENT</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">Faulty practices and flawed assumptions have
clearly made the inevitable development of drug resistance happen much sooner,
rather than later. For some diseases, like malaria, our options are very
limited as we have only a single class of effective drugs – artemisinin based combination
therapies -- with which to treat more than 200 million falciparum cases each
year. Although new drugs are under development, especially through the Medicines
for Malaria Venture, a public-private partnership, early signals of artemisinin
resistance have already been detected.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">Similarly, gains in reducing child deaths due
to diarrhoea and respiratory infections are at risk.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">And, while TB deaths are declining, in just the
past year nearly half a million people</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">developed multidrug-resistant TB, and a third
of them died as a result. These are just a</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">few of the stark warnings that must be heeded.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">The responsibility for turning this situation
around is entirely in our hands. Irrational and</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">inappropriate use of antimicrobials is by far
the biggest driver of drug resistance. This</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">includes overuse, when drugs are dispensed too
liberally, sometimes to “be on the safe</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">side”, sometimes in response to patient demand,
but often for doctors and pharmacists</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">to make more money.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">This includes underuse, especially when
economic hardship encourages patients to stop</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">treatment as soon as they feel better, rather
than complete the treatment course needed</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">to fully kill the pathogen. This includes
misuse, when drugs are given for the wrong</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">disease, usually in the absence of a diagnostic
test.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">In many countries, this includes a failure to
keep substandard products off the market, to</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">ensure that antimicrobials are dispensed only
by a licensed prescriber, and to stop over- the-counter sales of individual
pills.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">And this includes the massive routine use of
antimicrobials, to promote growth and for</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">prophylaxis, in the industrialized production
of food. In several parts of the world, more</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">than 50% in tonnage of all antimicrobial
production is used in food-producing animals. In</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">addition, veterinarians in some countries earn
at least 40% of their income from the sale</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">of drugs, creating a strong disincentive to
limit their use. The problem arises when drugs</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">used for food production are medically
important for human health, as evidence shows</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">that pathogens that have developed resistance
to drugs in animals can be transmitted to</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">humans.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">On this World Health Day, WHO is issuing a
policy package to get everyone, especially</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">governments and their drug regulatory systems,
on the right track, with the right</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">measures, quickly. Governments can make
progress, working with health workers,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">pharmacists, civil society, patients, and
industry We all can plan and coordinate our</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">response. We can expand surveillance efforts.
We can improve drug regulatory and</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">supply systems. We can foster improved use of
medicines for human and animal health.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">We can actively prevent and control infections
in health services and beyond. And, we</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">must stimulate a robust pipeline for new
antimicrobials, diagnostics and vaccines.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:DINNextLTPro-Light;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNextLTPro-Light;color:black">Drug resistance costs vast amounts of money,
and affects vast numbers of lives. The trends are clear and ominous. No action
today means no cure tomorrow. At a time of multiple calamities in the world, we
cannot allow the loss of essential medicines – essential cures for many
millions of people – to become the next global crisis.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><b><span style="font-size:15.0pt;font-family:DINNeuzeitGrotesk-BoldCond;mso-bidi-font-family:
DINNeuzeitGrotesk-BoldCond;color:black">For more information, go to:</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-family:DINNextLTPro-MediumCond;mso-bidi-font-family:DINNextLTPro-MediumCond;
color:black"><a href="http://www.who.int/world-health-day/2011">http://www.who.int/world-health-day/2011</a></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:DINNeuzeitGrotesk-BoldCond;
mso-bidi-font-family:DINNeuzeitGrotesk-BoldCond;color:black">© World Health
Organization 2011. All rights reserved. </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:DINNeuzeitGrotesk-BoldCond;
mso-bidi-font-family:DINNeuzeitGrotesk-BoldCond;color:black"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:DINNeuzeitGrotesk-BoldCond;
mso-bidi-font-family:DINNeuzeitGrotesk-BoldCond;color:black"> </span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:19.0pt;font-family:ArialBlack;mso-bidi-font-family:ArialBlack;
color:white">Press Release</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><b><span style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:black">Public Information
Office<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Press Release</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:8.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:black">Tel: <b>(63 2) 528 9991</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:8.5pt;font-family:Arial;color:black">Email<b>:
<a href="mailto:PIO_Unit@wpro.who.int">PIO_Unit@wpro.who.int</a></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><b><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black">Antibiotics may lose their power to cure
disease, WHO warns</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><b><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black">MANILA</span></b><b><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black">, 7 April 2011</span></b><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black">—The World Health Organization (WHO) today
warned of a possible return to the days before antibiotics were developed
unless global action is taken urgently to combat the growing problem of drug
resistance.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black">WHO cautioned that the misuse and
irrational use of drugs are weakening the fight against</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black">diseases, such as tuberculosis and
malaria, that should have been contained decades ago. At the same time, other
age-old diseases are on the rise, with the possibility of no cure.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black">The rallying cry of this year's World
Health Day, observed on 7 April is "Combat drug</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black">resistance! No action today, no cure
tomorrow." It seeks to raise awareness about what drives</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black">antimicrobial resistance and how to halt
it.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black">"Antimicrobial drug resistance is a
complex problem, and it requires a comprehensive response among and between
Member States across different sectors," said Dr Shin Young-soo, WHO Regional
Director for the Western Pacific.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black">WHO will launch on World Health Day a
six-point policy package for countries in an effort to fight drug resistance.
The six points are:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black">(1) committing to a comprehensive,
financed national plan with lines of accountability and</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black">community engagement;</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black">(2) strengthening surveillance and
laboratory capacity;</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black">(3) ensuring a regular supply of
good-quality medicines;</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black">(4) regulating and promoting rational use
of medicines and proper patient care;</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black">(5) enhancing infection prevention and
control in health settings; and</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black">(6) fostering innovation, research and
development.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black">WHO said antimicrobial resistance is a
global concern not only because it kills but because it</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black">increases health costs and threatens
patient care. The problems include:</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black">(1) An estimated 440 000 new multidrug
resistant-TB cases around the world annually, with</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black">extensively drug resistant-TB, identified
in 58 countries to date.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black">(2) The fight against malaria is hampered
by the emergence of resistance to the frontline drug, artemisinin.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black">(3) Treatment for gonorrhoea is threatened
by growing resistance to the last-line treatment for</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black">this sexually transmitted infection.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black">(4) The emergence of hospital-acquired
"superbugs"<i>, </i>resistant to major antibiotics, is</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black">becoming increasingly frequent.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black">In response to the threat of antimicrobial
resistance, WHO developed the first Global Strategy for Containment of
Antimicrobial Resistance in 2001, but strategies for containment have not been
widely implemented, WHO said. While action is needed, commitment,
implementation and accountability have lagged behind. The newly launched
six-point package will engage all WHO's 193 Member States
and the global health community to foster action for change.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black">The World Health Day' message will target
health ministers, other policy-makers and health</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black">leaders; the public, patients and civil
society; the pharmaceutical industry, health institutions,</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black">prescribers and dispensers; and the media.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black">____</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align:none;text-autospace:none"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black">For more information, please call Dr Dean
Shuey, WHO Regional Adviser in Health Systems</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black">Development, tel:
+(63 2) 528 9806/9805; email: </span><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:blue"><a href="mailto:shueyd@wpro.who.int">shueyd@wpro.who.int</a></span><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black">.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;color:black"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"> </p>