World failing in fight against antibiotic resistance: WHO

The world is doing far too little to combat the misuse of antibiotics which is fuelling drug resistance and allowing long-treatable diseases to become killers, the World Health Organisation said Wednesday. In its first ever analysis of how countries are responding to the problem of antimicrobial resistance, the UN health agency revealed “major gaps” in all six regions of the world.

This is the single greatest challenge in infectious diseases today. All types of microbes, including many viruses and parasites, are becoming resistant to medicines.

Keiji Fukuda, WHO’s assistant director general for health security

The UN agency conducted a survey of 133 countries asking governments to assess their response to resistance to antimicrobial medicines. Only a quarter of countries that answered the survey had comprehensive national plans in place to fight resistance to antibiotics and other antimicrobial medicines, it said. A year ago, WHO issued a hard-hitting study on the phenomenon, cautioning that without significant action the world would be headed for “a post-antibiotic era”.

[In such an era,] common infections and minor injuries that have been treatable for decades, may once again kill.

Charles Penn, WHO coordinator on antimicrobial resistance

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