HIV AIDS is a disease with stigma. And we have learned with experience, not just with HIV AIDS but with other diseases, countries for many reasons are sometimes hesitant to admit they have a problem.
Margaret ChanRead
Some experts say we are moving back to the pre-antibiotic era. No. This will be a post-antibiotic era. In terms of new replacement antibiotics, the pipeline is virtually dry. A post-antibiotic era means, in effect, an end to modern medicine as we know it. Things as common as strep throat or a child's scratched knee could once again kill.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote warns about the dangers of antibiotic resistance and its potential impact on modern medicine.
Margaret Chan's quote highlights the grave concern regarding the increasing resistance to antibiotics, suggesting that we may soon enter a post-antibiotic era where common infections, previously easily treatable, could become deadly once again. This situation would fundamentally threaten the advances in modern medicine and public health that have been achieved through the effective use of antibiotics.
Themes
AntibioticsResistanceHealthMedicineInfectionsPublic Health
In practice
Example use cases
In a public health speech on antibiotic resistance, this quote can emphasize the urgency of the issue.
More from Margaret Chan
All quotes →A health system that lacks commodities for managing high-mortality infectious diseases and the main killers of mothers and young children will not have an adequate impact. By the same token, even the best-stocked delivery system will have an inadequate impact if it fails to reach the poor.
Margaret ChanRead
New and emerging infections keep coming back and the world needs a collective defense system, and that requires international cooperation and collaboration, in the name of global solidarity.
Margaret ChanRead
I want us to be judged by the impact we have on the health of the people of Africa and the health of women. Improvements in the health of the people of Africa and the health of women are key indicators of the performance of WHO. This is a health organization for the whole world... But we must focus our attention on the people in greatest need.
Margaret ChanRead
The way I look at - speaking as a woman - I understand what it means to be a daughter, and to be a wife, and to be a mother, and also to be a career woman. The multiple roles that women can play in a society if given the opportunity is really a tremendous asset.
Margaret ChanRead
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