11. Capitalizing on technological advancements
Breakthroughs in technology have revolutionized disease diagnosis, prevention, and treatment, WHO said, and genome editing, digital health technologies, and synthetic biology have the potential to solve a number of health problems.
However, WHO also noted that these technologies raise a number of questions regarding how they should be regulated and monitored. WHO cautioned that without the appropriate guardrails, these technological advancements have the potential to create new organisms and harm people, and said it is setting up new advisory committees to review evidence and provide guidance on the technologies.
12. Threat of anti-microbial resistance and other medicines
Anti-microbial resistance (AMR) has the potential to undo decades of medical advancements and has increased due to a number of factors, including limited access to quality and low-cost medications, the unregulated prescription and use of antibiotics, poor infection control, and more, WHO said.
The organization said it is working to combat AMR “by addressing its root causes, while advocating for research and development into new antibiotics.”