(NaturalHealth365)  As scientists furiously research new medicines and even stronger antibiotics to kill so-called superbugs, others are trying to shed light on the issue of why these drug-resistant bacteria are becoming a more pressing health issue and how to stop them at their source.

It’s certainly an area of concern.  According to a new report released by the U.N. Environment Program (UNEP), the world is poised to see the death of 10 million people per year to drug-resistant bugs by 2050 (right now, the annual death toll sits at around 1.3 million people).  We, at NaturalHealth365, join Children’s Health Defense and others in asking, will anyone be held accountable for this?

Is the world “Bracing for Superbugs?”  New UN report reveals how Big Pharma and other corporations are contributing to growing issue of antibiotic resistance

The report, released on February 7, is called Bracing for Superbugs: Strengthening environmental action in the One Health response to antimicrobial resistance.  In it, the authors mince no words in describing how serious of a health threat this is.  Calling antibiotic resistance “one of the top global public health problems,” the UN report states that this matter “poses an urgent and critical threat to animal and plant health, food security and economic development.”

This report goes on to highlight three key economic sectors – pharmaceuticals and other chemicals, agriculture and food, and healthcare – that are driving worsening antimicrobial resistance, the phenomenon that could give rise to so-called “superbugs” that are impervious to modern medicinal therapeutics.

Specifically, Big Ag, Big Pharma, and conventional healthcare systems serve as major sources of pollution because of factors like:

• Hospital wastewater
• Sewage discharged from pharmaceutical production facilities
• Run-off from plant and animal agricultural operations

The UN warns that these major sources of wastewater, run-off, and pollution are exposing the environment and the public at large to a wide range of potentially harmful substances, including bacteria and other microorganisms, antibiotics, antivirals, fungicides, disinfectants, and microplastics.  Compounding the issue, the UN says, are “pollutants from poor sanitation, sewage and waste effluent in municipal systems.”

Altogether, these factors have the potential to serve as a rich feeding ground for the introduction and evolution of powerful, drug-resistant bacteria, which would pose an incredible danger to human health and the environment by worsening the growing issue of antibiotic resistance.

This is what needs to be done to curb antimicrobial resistance, offers the UN

The authors of the UN report urge corporate stakeholders and policymakers to take action on this “crisis” and urge these powerful players to recognize that “the health of people, animals, plants and the environment are closely linked and interdependent.”

The UN goes on to assert that their “One Health” systems approach is the necessary method “needed to tackle” this problem – an assertion which many may rightly welcome with a healthy amount of skepticism, given how eerily close that sounds to a globalist, Big Tech, Big government slant.  (To be clear, technology and government can and should help with this global concern – but as always, taking a more globalist, top-down approach exposes us all to the risk of bureaucratic red tape, corruption, and inefficiencies that may impede these efforts, too.)

Nonetheless, here are some practices, as described under their “One Health” approach, that the UN hopes to see from the major global players in the coming years:

• Improved infection prevention and control among livestock (here, the UN offers vaccinations as a potential solution, but we also would be remiss not to mention increased support of sustainable husbandry and regenerative small farming)
• Exploring investment schemes that will provide financial incentives for tackling antimicrobial resistance
• Establishing international standards for appropriate microbiological indicators of antimicrobial resistance
• Promote global clean water efforts and appropriate water management systems and infrastructure

In the meantime, don’t forget the basics when it comes to protecting your family from illnesses caused by bacteria and other harmful microorganisms: wash your hands, stay home if you’re unwell, avoid touching your face, clean and disinfect high-contact surfaces regularly, and maintain healthy lifestyle practices (with an emphasis on quality sleep, movement, and a clean, organic diet – as much as possible).

To learn more about how to naturally improve your immune system … own the Immune Defense Summit, created by Jonathan Landsman.

Sources for this article include:

Childrenshealthdefense.org
UNEP.org
Eurekalert.org
Sciencedaily.com
Mayoclinic.org