This post was originally published on The Economic Times
Investors with more than $13 trillion in combined assets are calling on global policymakers to set a science-based target to curb the spread of superbugs, drawing inspiration from a similar blueprint used to tackle planet-warming emissions.
Legal & General Investment Management and Aviva Investors are among 80 institutions that have signed an open statement seeking an international framework and scientific panel to address the challenge of bacterial resistance around the globe.
Antimicrobial resistance, also known as AMR, kills nearly 1.3 million people a year and occurs when germs become resistant to drugs. If left unchecked, it could lead to an estimated $1 trillion in additional healthcare costs by 2050, as well as a 3.8% loss of global gross domestic product and about 10 million deaths annually, according to a report published last month.
The United Nations brought attention to the topic at a high-profile meeting in 2016 but momentum has since stalled. AMR is now a “systemic risk akin to climate change and nature loss,” the investor group said in a statement Tuesday. It jeopardises “global financial markets,
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