The World Health Organization has issued a warning about the growing global crisis of antimicrobial resistance. Released on Tuesday, the Global Antibiotic Resistance Surveillance Report 2025 reveals that resistance to life-saving medicines is critically high and continues to rise. This means common treatments for infections like Urinary Tract Infections and gastrointestinal diseases may no longer work effectively. The report analyzed over 23 million bacteriologically confirmed infections from 104 countries, making it an unprecedented study. Around one in six bacterial infections worldwide in 2023 were caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The crisis disproportionately affects low- and middle-income countries with weaker health systems. Global monitoring has expanded significantly since 2016, with country participation increasing four-fold. However, regional gaps remain, and more than half of reporting countries still lack the necessary infrastructure to generate reliable data on antimicrobial resistance.
Key Findings on Rising Antibiotic Resistance
The report confirms that antibiotic resistance is widespread globally, with significant variations across regions. Urinary Tract Infections showed the highest average resistance, affecting one in three patients. Bloodstream infections also present major concerns, with about one in six cases being antibiotic resistant. First-choice treatments for common infections are increasingly failing. Gram-negative bacterial pathogens, including E. coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae, pose a growing threat. The crisis affects countries unequally, with the heaviest burden on low- and middle-income countries with weak health systems. Resistance was most frequent in South-East Asia and Eastern Mediterranean regions, affecting almost one in three infections, while European and Western Pacific regions reported lower rates.
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