22 November 2024

Drug-resistant infections are already one of the world’s biggest killers, but the latest research into global antimicrobial resistance (AMR) trends suggests that we may now need to brace ourselves. By 2050, the number of deaths associated with AMR could increase by 70%, with a staggering 169 million people dying during this period.1

Balancing antibiotic access and use
Fortunately, we can prevent this from happening, provided we change both the way we develop and use antibiotics. The excessive use of antibiotics, or using them inappropriately, is one of the main drivers of drug resistance. Yet, what is less widely understood is that most people in the world don’t have access to the antibiotics they need, with more people dying from a lack of access to antibiotics than from drug-resistant infections.