Address drug resistant pathogens as part of 'next stage of global health'

Jan 24 2012

This post in the Foreign Policy Association blog discusses reports from earlier this month of "an emerging strain of 'totally drug-resistant' tuberculosis (TDR-TB)" in India, which the Indian government last week denied, "arguing that the 12 cases were in fact extensively drug resistant (XDR)." The blog states, "Whether or not it's fair to use the TDR moniker, drug resistance is a serious, emerging issue that may very well define the next stage of global health," concluding, "We are reaching a turning point, one at which some drug resistant pathogens are on the cusp of shifting from a handful of cases, an endemic, to a bigger, epidemic or even pandemic problem. Now is the time to initiate discussions on what the global community will do to stem drug resistance" (Robinson, 1/21).

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