WHO on bacterial infections: One in six laboratory-confirmed bacterial infections is resistant to standard antibiotic treatment, the World Health Organization (WHO) said, urging governments and clinicians to use the medicines more responsibly.
In a report drawing on surveillance data from more than 100 countries between 2016 and 2023, the U.N. health agency said resistance increased in about 40% of samples monitored. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is “outpacing advances in modern medicine,” and called for prudent antibiotic use alongside wider access to the right drugs, quality diagnostics and vaccines.
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AMR is estimated to directly cause more than 1 million deaths each year worldwide. While genetic changes in pathogens are natural, misuse and overuse of antibiotics in human health, veterinary care and agriculture are accelerating resistance, the agency said.
The burden is heaviest in parts of South Asia and the Middle East, where roughly one in three reported infections are resistant. In Africa, resistance to first-line treatments for some bacteria that cause bloodstream infections, conditions that can lead to sepsis, organ failure and death, now exceeds 70%, according to the report.
