MUMBAI: One in six hospitalised patients globally is infected with bacteria resistant to antibiotics, according to a new World Health Organization (WHO) report that highlights the worsening threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
The findings, released on Monday through WHO’s Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS), analysed data from 104 countries and revealed that resistance to nearly 40% of monitored antibiotics has increased by 5–15% every year between 2018 and 2023.
In India, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)—a key contributor to the GLASS network—has repeatedly flagged rising resistance in intensive care units. Its 2023 data showed E. coli infections demonstrating poor response to common antibiotics such as cefotaxime, ceftazidime, ciprofloxacin, and levofloxacin.
Dr Kamini Walia, senior scientist at ICMR, said high antibiotic consumption in India, China, and Pakistan was driving resistance. “High resistance is reflective of higher consumption of these antibiotics,” she noted, adding that most AMR data come from tertiary hospitals, where the sickest patients are treated. “These reports are not representative of the entire country or community,” she said.
The WHO study tracked resistance to 22 essential antibiotics used for treating urinary tract, gastrointestinal, and bloodstream infections, as well as gonorrhoea. It found that many first-line drugs are losing effectiveness, forcing doctors to depend on intravenous or “last-resort” antibiotics that are expensive and harder to obtain.
The problem is most acute in Southeast Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean, where AMR rates reach 33%, compared with just 10% in Europe. “Resistance is more common and worsening in areas where health systems struggle to diagnose or treat bacterial infections,” the report stated.
Among bloodstream infections, E. coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae were identified as the most prevalent pathogens. The WHO warned that over 40% of E. coli and 55% of K. pneumoniae cases worldwide are now resistant to third-generation cephalosporins—the main line of defence for these infections. In the African Region, resistance exceeds 70%.
Despite the alarming trends, WHO commended India for its strong data contribution. Nearly 41% of published studies on bloodstream infections originated from India, China, and Pakistan, while 42% of urinary tract infection reports came from India, Iraq, Iran, and Pakistan.
“India has been regularly contributing to WHO’s GLASS survey for years,” said Dr Walia. “Our laboratory capacity has improved, but we now need more surveillance from community and secondary hospitals, not just tertiary care.”
Dr Yvan Hutin, Director of WHO’s AMR Division, cautioned that rising resistance threatens to reverse decades of medical progress. “As antibiotic resistance continues to rise, we are running out of treatment options and putting lives at risk—especially in countries with weak infection control and limited access to effective medicines,” he said.
He added, “The less access people have to quality care, the more they are likely to suffer from drug-resistant infections.”
