The State of the World’s Antibiotics: Resistance Rates Rising, Stewardship is the Solution Posted on November 16, 2015 by Ramanan Laxminarayan
Antibiotic resistance is a problem that must be faced squarely in every country in 2015. The good news is that every country can take action and these national actions will benefit the local population. That’s the conclusion my colleagues and I at the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (CDDEP) were proud to release in September in a major report: The State of the World’s Antibiotics,
2015 (http://www.cddep.org/publications/state_worlds_antibiotics_2015). Ramanan Laxminarayan, Director and Senior Fellow, Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy
The report looks comprehensively at global antibiotic use and resistance in humans, livestock and the environment, the global antibiotic supply, and actions that can be taken at country level to minimize antibiotic resistance. We found some clear trends: The prevalence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is increasing all over the world (http://resistancemap.cddep.org/), including the United States. The global use of antibiotics by humans increased by more than 30 percent between 2000 and 2010, from 50 billion to 70 billion standard units, and we expect the trend to continue. About 80 percent of this use takes place in the community, meaning that, though hospitals contribute greatly to consumption (because patients with the most difficultto-treat infections are in hospitals), unchecked use in outpatient and nonprescription settings is a major issue. Non-therapeutic antibiotic use in animals—dosing chickens, pigs or cows with antibiotics to promote growth and prevent infections rather than to cure illness—is growing worldwide. We project that global animal antibiotic consumption will grow 67 percent between 2010 and 2030.
Stopping the misuse and overuse of antibiotics, while maintaining access for those who truly need them, is of utmost importance.
The root of the problem is often attributed to the “empty pipeline” argument—that if we just had more new