News

Experts describe findings as deeply concerning and predict 70% increase in related deaths by 2050 Hospitals across the world have recorded an alarming rise in common infections that are resistant to antibiotics, with doctors saying the number of deaths driven by drug resistance will increase sharply in the years ahead. As antibiotic resistance continues to rise, we are running out of treatment options and we are putting lives at risk, especially in countries where infection prevention and control is weak and access to diagnostics and effective medicine is already limited." Estimates of resistance for some countries might be skewed by healthcare systems reporting data only from specialist hospitals that handle the most severe infections. But based on the records gathered, the WHO estimates one in three bacterial infections in south-east Asia and the eastern Mediterranean were resistant to antibiotics in 2023, and one in five in Africa. We are failing to replace the antibiotics that are being lost to resistance, and this latest WHO report shows that the consequences of that are now finally beginning to be felt."