THE World Health Organization has warned of a global increase in antimicrobial resistance (AMR), with one in six laboratory-confirmed bacterial infections worldwide in 2023 resistant to antibiotics.

Between 2018 and 2023, antibiotic resistance rose in over 40% of the monitored antibiotics, with an average annual increase of 5-15%.

The new Global Antibiotic Resistance Surveillance Report 2025 presents resistance prevalence estimates across 22 antibiotics used to treat common infections, such as urinary tract, gastrointestinal, bloodstream and gonorrhoea.

Antibiotic resistance was highest in Southeast Asian and Eastern Mediterranean regions, where one in three reported infections were resistant, while in the African region, one in five infections was resistant.

Resistance is also more common and worsening in places where health systems lack capacity to diagnose or treat bacterial pathogens, while drug-resistant gram-negative bacteria – especially Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae – are becoming more dangerous worldwide.

The Western Pacific region, including Australia, had the lowest rate of antibiotic-resistant bacteria at one in 11.

While Australia is faring well, experts point out that there is no room for complacency as antibiotic-resistant infections spread across the world through international travel.

Read the report HERE.

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