I refer to the article, “Antimicrobial resistance set to be more deadly than cancer by 2050: Experts” (Feb 28).

As someone who in 2022 needed two surgical procedures to clear what initially seemed to be a minor infection resulting from a cut on my knee, I am keenly aware of the declining efficacy of antibiotics. Thus, I applaud Singapore’s efforts to deal with this worsening danger.

Singapore is also taking the lead in another aspect of antimicrobial resistance: a key cause of the problem is the large amount of antibiotics fed to animals that we use for food.

According to an article in the journal Pharmacotherapy: “The use of antibiotics in agriculture, particularly in food-producing animals, is pervasive and represents the overwhelming majority of antibiotic use worldwide. The link between antibiotic use in animals and antibiotic resistance in humans is unequivocal.”

Singapore’s role as a leading hub for the development, production and sale of alternative protein foods, such as plant-based and cultivated meat, dairy and egg products, shows the way forward in reducing the world’s unnecessary use of antibiotics.

George Martin Jacobs