Investors can play their part in the war on superbugs

Featured Sponsor

Store	Link	Sample Product
UK Artful Impressions	Premiere Etsy Store

Antimicrobial resistance is one of the critical issues of our time. Bacterial infections that are resistant to antibiotics caused 1.3 million deaths in the world in 2019, more than malaria; by 2050 the toll should reach 10 million a year. Attention has largely focused on the overprescribing of antibiotics by doctors, leading to overconsumption by humans. Investors are now rightly targeting overuse in industrial agriculture and livestock production, which can fuel not only resistance but also the emergence of drug-resistant superbugs in people.

European asset managers Legal & General Investment Management and Amundi are among those targeting fast food giant McDonald’s at its annual meeting on Thursday. They are pushing the company to comply with World Health Organization guidelines on the use of antibiotics along its supply chain.

McDonald’s recognizes that AMR is a “critical global public health issue” that it, together with suppliers, has a responsibility to help address as one of the world’s largest buyers of beef. He is adamant that he has a “strong record of responsible antibiotic use” and works in line with WHO guidelines. But critics say the fast-food company has watered down its commitments on antibiotic use and recently issued more limited targets.

Investors are right to fret, but governments and international bodies need to step up too. The COVID-19 pandemic has reversed some of the progress made in controlling AMR. Meanwhile, no new classes of antibiotics have been released since the 1980s. Even if the pharmaceutical industry has made an effort $1 billion to fight drug-resistant superbugsprefer to finance more profitable medicines.

WHO has warned that AMR is a top global threat to public healthbut must enforce and enforce the rules. The economic consequences are also potentially significant. THE World Bank says that in a worst-case scenario, AMR could reduce annual global gross domestic product by 3.8 percent by 2050, push an additional 28 million people into extreme poverty, and raise global healthcare costs by $1 trillion annually. Drug-resistant infections change the profile of many medical interventions. Without effective antibiotics, cancer treatments and other pharmaceuticals could be compromised.

McDonald’s resolution may not pass. A similar one last year failed to win the backing of major shareholders Vanguard and BlackRock; this year shareholder advisory firms ISS and Glass Lewis also recommended refusals. Yet investors and companies should be careful. As with resolutions calling for action on climate change by oil companies, some European investors are ahead of many US counterparts.

As more data is released and real-world impacts proliferate, investors will inevitably take a more activist stance against public companies that have a hand in the industries that perpetuate AMR. The argument hasn’t yet attracted the same support as climate change, but if climate-style litigation is replicated, lawsuits could begin targeting those held accountable for AMR.

Climate change itself is exacerbating many health challenges, which makes fighting antimicrobial resistance all the more important. Higher temperatures are making outbreaks of various diseases more common and more serious; floods can spread disease through sewage contamination and poor sanitation, and displaced people often have little access to clean water. The poorest countries in Africa and Asia, often the hardest hit by climate change, will once again be among the hardest hit. What has been dubbed “the silent pandemic” requires global action by investors and governments.