The World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday raised the alarm over the alarming rise in drug-resistant bacterial infections, warning that this growing threat is undermining the effectiveness of life-saving treatments and turning once-minor illnesses into deadly challenges.

According to the UN health agency, nearly one in six laboratory-confirmed bacterial infections worldwide in 2023 showed resistance to antibiotic treatment.

“These findings are deeply concerning,” said Yvan J-F. Hutin, head of the WHO’s antimicrobial resistance (AMR) department.

“As antibiotic resistance continues to climb, our treatment options are shrinking — and lives are increasingly at risk.”

Experts say bacteria have always evolved to resist medicines designed to destroy them, but the overuse of antibiotics in humans, animals, and food production has dramatically accelerated resistance.

WHO data shows that antimicrobial-resistant “superbugs” now directly cause over one million deaths and contribute to nearly five million more every year.

In its latest surveillance report, the WHO analyzed resistance trends across 22 key antibiotics used for treating infections of the urinary tract, bloodstream, digestive system, and sexually transmitted diseases like gonorrhea.

Flying blind

In the five years leading to up 2023, antibiotic resistance increased in over 40 percent of the monitored antibiotics, with an average annual rise of between five and 15 percent, the report found.

For urinary tract infections, resistance to commonly-used antibiotics was typically higher than 30 percent globally, it showed.

The report looked at eight common bacteria pathogens, including E. coli and K. pneumoniae, which can lead to severe bloodstream infections that frequently result in sepsis, organ failure and death.

The WHO warned that more than 40 percent of E. coli infections and 55 percent of K. pneumoniae infections globally are now resistant to third-generation cephalosporins — the first-choice treatment for these infections.

“Antimicrobial resistance is outpacing advances in modern medicine, threatening the health of families worldwide,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned in a statement.

The WHO hailed improvements in surveillance, but warned that 48 percent of countries were still not reporting any AMR data.

“We are definitely flying blind in a number of countries and regions that have insufficient surveillance systems for antimicrobial resistance,” Hutin acknowledged.

Future threat

Judging from the available data, most resistance was found in places with weaker health systems and less surveillance, WHO said.

The highest resistance was found in the Southeast Asian and Eastern Mediterranean regions, where one in three reported infections were resistant.

In the African region, one in five infections was meanwhile resistant.

Silvia Bertagnolio, who heads the WHO unit for antimicrobial resistance surveillance, told reporters it was unsurprising that resistance would be higher in places with weaker health systems, since they may lack the capacity to diagnose or treat pathogens effectively.

The differences could also be linked to the fact that countries with less surveillance may test and provide data on fewer patients and only those with the most serious infections, she said.

WHO has warned that there are not enough new tests and treatments in the pipeline to tackle the growing spread of drug-resistant bacteria.

This is creating a significant “future threat”, Hutin cautioned.

“The increasing antibiotic use, the increasing resistance and the reduction of the pipeline is a very dangerous combination.”