News January 20, 2022
Antibiotic resistance poses a major threat to public health worldwide. More people now die from bacterial infections that cannot be treated with antibiotics than from HIV or malaria. That turns out from extensive research that is published in The Lancet.
In 2019, at least 1.27 million people died as a result of an infection with antibiotic-resistant bacteria. These are infections that were previously treatable. The researchers therefore speak of “one of the greatest challenges facing humanity”. The number of deaths is expected to increase rapidly in the coming decades increase.
The effects of antibiotic resistance are now most visible in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, but also died in Western Europe in 2019 more than 50,000 people due to infections that can no longer be treated with antibiotics.
The scientists are pushing for more prevention, for example through better access to clean drinking water and sanitation. It is also important to use antibiotics more wisely and to invest more in new medicines.
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