Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the ability of a microorganism (like bacteria, viruses, and some parasites) to stop an antimicrobial (such as antibiotics, antivirals and antimalarials) from working against it. As a result, standard treatments become ineffective, infections persist and may spread to others.

Repeated and improper uses of antibiotics are primary causes of the increase in drug-resistant bacteria. While antibiotics should be used to treat bacterial infections, they are not effective against viral infections like the common cold, most sore throats, and the flu.

In 2014, the US adopted its National Strategy for Combating Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria which identified priorities and coordinates investments: to prevent, detect, and control outbreaks of resistant pathogens recognized by CDC as urgent or serious threats

At the Sixty-eight World Health Assembly in May 2015, the World Health Assembly endorsed a global action plan to tackle antimicrobial resistance, including antibiotic resistance, the most urgent drug resistance trend.

An now Reuters reports that EU member states backed a plan this month to combat antimicrobial resistance, an increasing global health issue, that would reduce the use of antibiotics in the food chain and limit certain drugs to humans.

EU data suggests that some 700,000 people a year are estimated to die globally because of antimicrobial resistance.

“New smart EU rules will give us robust tools to prevent the abuse of antibiotics and limit the risk of the development of antimicrobial resistance,” said Bulgarian Agriculture Minister Rumen Porodzanov. Bulgaria holds the EU’s rotating presidency.

The rules, agreed by EU ambassadors, limit the prophylactic use of antibiotics for animals that are not yet sick and provide clearer guidelines to countries outside the EU. Non-EU farmers will be prohibited from using antibiotics to cultivate larger animals, which is still a common practice but banned in the European Union, if they want to sell in the bloc.

The rules will also limit certain medicines to their treatment of humans in order not to water down their efficacy in combating infections.

The European Parliament and the European Council, which groups the EU’s 28 member states, still need to approve the new rules.

An estimated 10 million people a year could die because of resistance to antibiotics, former Goldman Sachs chief economist Jim O’Neill said in 2014.