In 2023, one in six bacterial infections globally were caused by a bacterium resistant to an antibiotic treatment, according to a new report by the World Health Organisation(WHO).
The report highlighted that the antibiotic resistance was most prevalent among bacteria causing urinary tract and bloodstream infections, while lower resistance rates were seen in those causing gastrointestinal and urogenital gonorrhoeal infections. The highest resistance rates were observed in the WHO South-East Asia, including India, and Eastern Mediterranean regions (almost one in three infections), followed by the African region (one in five), all above the global typical, authors of the 'Global Antibiotic Resistance Surveillance Report 2025' said. Bacteria can develop immunity against the very drugs designed to kill them owing to a repeated exposure, thereby giving rise to antibiotic or antimicrobial resistance. This is a public health threat as it can prolong treatment duration, extend hospital stays, potentially increasing costs and burden on public health infrastructure. The analysis was based on data collected at WHO's Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS) -- an international collaboration for collecting, integrating, and sharing data on antimicrobials from national surveillance systems of the participating countries.
“In 2023, approximately one in six laboratory-confirmed bacterial infections worldwide were caused by bacteria resistant to antibiotics,” the authors wrote.
The report noted a rise in resistance between 2018 and 2023, with over 40 per cent of the antibiotics analysed showing an increased resistance at a yearly rate of 5-15 per cent. Further, antibiotic resistance could be growing at a rate faster than advances in modern medicine, threatening health of families around the world, they said.
In India, 71 per cent of lab-confirmed infections of the bloodstream caused by Acinetobacter spp. Were found to be resistant to the antibiotic 'imipenem', while over 78 per cent of those caused by E. Coli were resistant to 'cefotaxime'.
Nearly 41,400 bloodstream infections were reported from India in 2023, over 99 per cent of which were caused by the bacteria Acinetobacter spp., E. Coli, K. Pneumoniae and S. Aureus, according to the report.
The authors added that 104 countries submitted antibiotic resistance data to the WHO's GLASS initiative — a four-fold increase from 25 countries in 2016. Participation was found to be highest in the WHO South-East Asia and Eastern Mediterranean (16 of 21 countries) regions.
