Singapore: In a bid to curb antibiotic resistance, thirteen major drugmakers including Cipla and Wockhardt from India have teamed up in laying out a roadmap to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) by 2020. Antimicrobial resistance in bacteria, viruses and fungi already kills 700,000 people worldwide each year, according to a report to the British government.

Other companies participating in the initiative include Allergan, AstraZeneca, DSM Sinochem Pharmaceuticals, Roche, GSK Pharma, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Sanofi and Shionogi.

The United Nations General Assembly will hold a historic, high-level meeting today, to discuss a plan to fight antibiotic-resistant superbugs. World leaders will gather and talk about ways to fight antimicrobial resistance. It's rare for a health topic to reach this level at the UN. As part of the effort, drugmakers pledged to clean up pollution from factories making antibiotics and take steps to curb overuse of the medicines.

The roadmap by these 13 drug firms follows the Industry Declaration signed in January 2016 at the World Economic Forum by more than 100 companies and trade associations, the companies said in a joint statement. The companies further said they are committed to reduce environmental impact in antibiotic production, monitor the usage of antibiotics, improve access and explore collaboratation opportunities in research and development of new antibiotics, vaccines and diagnostics.

"We are committed to working to reduce the development of antimicrobial resistance, improve access to high-quality antibiotics, vaccines, and diagnostics, invest in R&D, and collaborate with governments and stakeholders to sustain those investments," the companies said in a joint statement today.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the natural process by which bacteria and other microbes develop resistance to the drugs commonly used to treat infections. A Bloomberg report quoting the World Bank said the spread of drug-resistant infections could mean a hit to the global economy even greater than that of the 2008 financial crisis as the emergence of so-called superbugs threatens growth in low-income countries.