SHOBHA SHUKLA CNS
Save the medicines that protect us, says Global AMR Media Alliance Chairperson Shobha shukla
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The world is heading towards widespread resistance to common antibiotics. So indicates the Global Antibiotic Resistance Surveillance Report 2025, that was launched today by the World Health Organization (WHO), cautioning that increasing resistance to essential antibiotics poses a growing threat to public health systems globally - especially in countries least equipped to handle it.
Alarming trends in antibiotic resistance
Data submitted by 104 countries to the WHO Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS) reveals that between 2018 and 2023 bacterial resistance to 40% of monitored antibiotics rose by 515% annually. Drawing from more than 23 million bacteriologically-confirmed infections, the report estimates that 1 in 6 common bacterial infections globally were resistant to antibiotic treatment in 2023.
The report analyses resistance to 22 critical antibiotics used to treat urinary tract, gastrointestinal, and bloodstream infections, as well as gonorrhoea. These first-line treatments are losing effectiveness, increasingly forcing healthcare providers to resort to intravenous therapy and "last-resort" antibiotics - which are costlier, harder to access, and frequently unavailable in low- and middle-income countries.
Regional disparities
Antibiotic resistance is not evenly distributed across the globe:
- Highest resistance rates were observed in Southeast Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean, where 33% of the bacterial infections were resistant.
- In the African region, 1 in 5 infections showed resistance.
- By contrast, resistance levels were lowest in Europe (1 in 10) and the Western Pacific (1 in 11).
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