WHO Report Highlights Antibiotic Resistance Threat

The first WHO report on antibiotic resistance provides a comprehensive picture of the problem to date, with data from 114 countries.

AsianScientist (May 7, 2014) – Antibiotic resistance is a serious threat that is now found in every region of the world, according to a new report from the World Health Organization (WHO).

“Without urgent, coordinated action by many stakeholders, the world is headed for a post-antibiotic era, in which common infections and minor injuries which have been treatable for decades can once again kill,” says Dr. Keiji Fukuda, WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Health Security.

“Effective antibiotics have been one of the pillars allowing us to live longer, live healthier, and benefit from modern medicine. Unless we take significant actions to improve efforts to prevent infections and also change how we produce, prescribe and use antibiotics, the world will lose more and more of these global public health goods and the implications will be devastating.”

The report, Antimicrobial resistance: global report on surveillance, notes that resistance is occurring across many different infectious agents, but focuses on bacterial antibiotic resistance. It documents how seven different bacteria are responsible for common, serious diseases such as bloodstream infections (sepsis), diarrhea, pneumonia, urinary tract infections and gonorrhea.

It also discusses the spread of resistance to antibiotics, especially “last resort” antibiotics, in all regions of the world. In particular, the report notes that key tools to tackle antibiotic resistance such as basic systems to track and monitor the problem are lacking in many countries, a cause for high concern.

Also highlighted in the report are actions that can be taken to prevent infections from happening in the first place–better hygiene, access to clean water, infection control in health-care facilities and vaccination. It also calls attention to the need to develop new diagnostics, antibiotics and other tools to allow healthcare professionals to stay ahead of emerging resistance.

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Source: World Health Organization; Photo: Nathan Reading/Flickr/CC.

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