Vaccines can significantly reduce the use of antibiotics, helping to tackle the growing issue of antimicrobial resistance.

A new report from the World Health Organization (WHO) suggests that vaccines against 24 different pathogens could cut global antibiotic use by 22%, which would mean a reduction of 2.5 billion daily doses each year.

This would be a major step forward in addressing antimicrobial resistance, a problem largely caused by the overuse and misuse of antimicrobial (bacteria, fungi, parasites, viruses) drugs.

AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites become resistant to antimicrobial drugs, making the infection difficult to treat.

This increases disease, death and spreads infections that are more difficult to treat.

Globally, approximately 5 million deaths each year are linked to AMR, caused by overuse of antimicrobial drugs in some places and lack of access to these essential medicines in other places.

Vaccines play an important role in reducing the need for antibiotics because they prevent infection in the first place. By stopping diseases before they start, vaccines help slow the growth of drug-resistant pathogens.

WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus emphasized this point, saying, “Prevention is better than cure, and expanding access to existing vaccines and developing new vaccines for serious diseases like tuberculosis is vital to saving lives and tackling AMR.” Is important.”

Potential impact of vaccines on AMR

Pneumococcus and Hib Vaccines: These vaccines, which are already available, can prevent deadly infections such as pneumonia and meningitis. By increasing global coverage, they could prevent 106,000 AMR-related deaths each year.

New TB and Klebsiella vaccines: Once developed and widely distributed, vaccines against tuberculosis and Klebsiella pneumoniae could save up to 543,000 lives annually by preventing infections that are difficult to treat with antibiotics.

Antibiotic Dose Saving: Vaccines for common diseases like typhoid and malaria could save millions of antibiotic doses each year. For example, malaria vaccines could reduce the misuse of antibiotics by 25 million doses annually.

Economic Impact: Treating resistant pathogens costs hospitals globally an estimated $730 billion each year. By administering more vaccines, up to a third of these costs could be saved.

Global Action: World leaders recently committed to reducing AMR-related deaths by 10% by 2030. Expanding access to vaccines will be a key strategy in achieving this goal.

WHO highlighted that expanding vaccine access and developing new vaccines will be essential to tackling this global health crisis.