14 October 2025

Much like the well-known climate threshold of 1.5 degrees Celsius, the importance of critical limits in our environment have long been understood as key to help us avoid calamities. So, when we know the world is facing an escalating antimicrobial resistance (AMR) crisis, but there has been no definitive tipping point established, that leaves us on a potentially perilous path.

This week, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a report that suggests we may have now reached such a critical threshold.

Drawing on data from more than 100 countries, the report found that drug-resistant infections have risen significantly in recent years, representing a third of all infections in some regions.

These findings add to a growing body of evidence to suggest the most difficult-to-treat infections are beginning to outpace antibiotic development, either because the right antibiotics are not reaching the people who need them, or because they are not being developed in the first place. As a result, the number of AMR deaths is expected to increase sharply, by 70% by 2050.