GNV News, October 22, 2025

On 2025-10–13, the World Health Organization (WHO) released the “2025 Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Report.” According to the report, of the bacteria that caused infections worldwide in 2023, about 1 in 6 were resistant to antibiotics, that is, exhibited antimicrobial resistance. In addition, between 2018 and 2023, about 40% of the antibiotics used for urinary and gastrointestinal infections, bloodstream infections, and gonorrhea lost effectiveness.

Why do antibiotics lose their effectiveness? The biggest factor is the overuse of antibiotics. Antibiotics are effective against infections caused by bacteria, but they are not effective against viral infections such as the common cold and influenza. Nevertheless, antibiotics are frequently prescribed for viral infections. This allows bacteria to evolve and acquire drug resistance. Such bacteria, known as “superbugs,” are causing situations in which infections do not resolve even when antibiotics are administered. In 2019, superbugs are estimated to have been the direct cause of as many as 1.3 million deaths.

According to the report, in Southeast Asia and Africa, where many middle- and low-income countries are located, the prevalence of superbugs is significantly higher than the global average. In these regions, both the systems for monitoring drug resistance (※) and the health care systems are fragile, leading to even more serious situations. Although new antibiotics have been developed in response to superbugs, they have not reached many middle- and low-income countries, and older antibiotics that have lost effectiveness are sometimes prescribed.

A type of antibiotic, clindamycin (Photo: A. / [CC BY-SA 2.0])