The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Wednesday that only 34 countries currently have national plans in place to fight antibiotic resistance and stop the spread of superbug infections.
The WHO asked 133 countries how well equipped they are to cope with bugs developing immunity to existing antibiotics and found that only a quarter said they currently had comprehensive plans to monitor antibiotic use.
“This is the single greatest challenge in infectious diseases today,” Keiji Fukuda, assistant director-general for health security at the WHO, said in a statement. “All types of microbes — including many viruses and parasites — are becoming resistant to medicines. Of particularly urgent concern is the development of bacteria that are progressively less treatable by available antibiotics. This is happening in all parts of the world, so all countries must do their part to tackle this global threat.”
A report released by the WHO in April 2014 described antibiotic resistance as “a problem so serious that it threatens the achievements of modern medicine” and could lead to a “post-antibiotic era in which common infections and minor injuries can kill.”
Resistance to antibiotics could result in 10 million deaths per year by 2050, according to a study commissioned by the British government.
Antibiotic resistance is caused when antibiotics are overused and misused. Over time, the infection-causing bacteria develop resistance to the drugs, making them less effective in killing off the infectious agent. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria can often be introduced into humans through the food they eat, since many food producing animals are treated with antibiotics.
There were an estimated 480,000 new cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in 2013, and another drug-resistant tuberculosis strain has been identified in 100 countries, the WHO said.
Most of the countries surveyed had antibiotics “freely available” and being sold over-the-counter with no need for prescriptions, the report found
The WHO also noted that public awareness of the dangers of antibiotic misuse remain low, with much of the public, including half the population in Europe, wrongly believing that antibiotics can be used to fight viruses.
“While there is a lot to be encouraged by, much more work needs to be done to combat one of the most serious global health threats of our time,” said Fukuda. “Scientists, medical practitioners and other authorities including WHO have been sounding the warning of the potentially catastrophic impact of ignoring antibiotic resistance. Today, we welcome what has been achieved so far, but much more needs to be done to avoid losing the ability to practice medicine and treat both common and serious illnesses.”
The agency plans to ask that countries commit to developing plans to control the problem.
