Antibiotic resistance (the fact that certain bacteria eventually become resistant to antibiotics) is considered a threat by the specialized agency of the UN which fears that the world is moving towards an era in which common infections can start to kill again.
WHO has released two new reports on the shortage of new antibiotics in development. “The threat of antimicrobial resistance has never been so immediate and the need for solutions more urgent,” said WHO Director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“There are many initiatives underway to reduce resistance, but we also need countries and the pharmaceutical industry to get more involved and provide sustainable funding and new innovative medicines,” he added.
Discovered in the 1920s, antibiotics saved tens of millions of lives by effectively fighting bacteriological diseases like pneumonia, tuberculosis and meningitis. But over the decades, bacteria have changed to resist these drugs.
Bacteria can become resistant when patients use antibiotics they don’t need, or do not finish their treatment, giving the bacteria a chance to survive and develop immunity. To counter this resistance, WHO is calling for the development of new antibiotics, but this process is complicated and costly.
According to the WHO, the 60 new drugs that are being developed, including 50 antibiotics, to treat pathogens “bring little advantages compared to existing treatments and only two target the most resistant bacteria”, say Gram negative bacteria.
Other more innovative drugs are in the preclinical stage. Of the last 252 drugs, the most advanced will not be available for about ten years, according to the WHO.
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