The World Health Organisation estimates there are already 700,000 deaths globally due to antibiotic resistant infections each year, and if the problem is not addressed, this could rise to 10 million deaths per year by 2050.
According to one study, 70% of bacteria around the world have already developed resistance to antibiotics, including colistin – often described as medicine’s antibiotic of last resort.
The growth of factory farming has correlated closely with the development of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria. Two-thirds of antibiotic consumption in the EU and 70% of usage in the US occurs in the animal farming industry.
Read the full article by Steven Heim, Director of ESG Research at Boston Common Asset Management
