WHO recorded sharp increase in resistance to antibiotics among humans and urged for their more responsible use
The World Health Organisation (WHO) announced that one in every six laboratory-confirmed bacterial infections is resistant to antibiotic treatment and urged for more responsible use of medications, Reuters reports
According to a WHO report analysing data from over 100 countries between 2016 and 2023, antibiotic resistance has increased in about 40 percent of the samples studied.
“Antimicrobial resistance is outpacing advances in modern medicine, threatening the health of families worldwide,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated in a message accompanying the report. “We must use antibiotics responsibly, and make sure everyone has access to the right medicines, quality-assured diagnostics and vaccines.”
The news agency reports that antibiotic resistance causes more than 1 million deaths globally each year. While genetic mutations in pathogens occur naturally, human actions — such as the improper use of antibiotics to treat infections in humans, animals, and plants — accelerate this process.
WHO notes that the highest rates of antibiotic resistance are found in regions of South Asia and the Middle East, where about one in three reported infections are resistant to antibiotics.
