Beijing: The World Health Organization warned Tuesday that antimicrobial resistance is already causing a global health emergency, threatening to erase nearly a century of medical progress as common infections become increasingly challenging to treat.

According to Namibia Press Agency, Saia Ma’u Piukala, the WHO regional director for the Western Pacific, stated in a recently released statement that the discovery of antimicrobials almost a century ago revolutionized modern medicine. However, the misuse and overuse of these medicines have led to a rapid change in bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites, making them resistant to antimicrobials.

Piukala highlighted that one in six bacterial infections worldwide now resists standard antibiotics. In 2019 alone, nearly 5 million deaths were associated with bacterial antimicrobial resistance, with about 1.3 million directly attributed to drug-resistant infections. WHO estimates suggest that in the Western Pacific region, as many as 5.2 million people could succumb to drug-resistant bacterial infections between 2020 and 2030.

“Antimicrobials are precious, fragile tools — and we are in danger of losing them,” Piukala emphasized, urging for collective regional and global action to address the alarming trends.

At the 2024 UN General Assembly, governments committed to a political declaration aiming for a 10 percent reduction in deaths from drug-resistant infections by 2030. Despite these commitments, many rural clinics still lack basic diagnostics and access to antibiotics, while hospitals face challenges in implementing antimicrobial stewardship programs due to staffing shortages and delayed laboratory reporting.

Piukala stressed that addressing antimicrobial resistance begins with responsible antibiotic use. “When people take antibiotics only when necessary, they help protect everyone. When clinicians prescribe wisely, they safeguard hard-won medical advances. When hospitals strengthen infection control and invest in reliable, affordable diagnostics, lives are saved,” he concluded.