Antibiotic Resistance

Antibiotics? Handle with Care

By Baher Kamal
Antibiotics, like other antimicrobials, have become a threat to health rather than healing it. Why? Because their misuse and overuse have created such a strong resistance that they no longer respond to medicines, making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death. Much so that antimicrobial resistance is now considered among the top 10 global public threats facing humanity.

New Tuberculosis Drugs May Become Ineffective: Study

By Lyndal Rowlands
New antibiotics that could treat tuberculosis may rapidly become ineffective, according to new research published by the Lancet ahead of World Tuberculosis Day.

Governments Band Together to Address Antibiotic Resistance

By Lyndal Rowlands
The looming threat of a world where even minor infections are deadly has led governments to commit to collective action against antibiotic resistance at the UN General Assembly earlier this week.

Antibiotic Resistance Requires Global Response Similar to AIDS, Climate Change

By Lyndal Rowlands
Addressing antibiotic resistance will require a global political response similar to the way the world has reacted to climate change or HIV / AIDS, Sweden’s Minister of Public Health Gabriel Wikstrom, told IPS recently.

When Medicines Don’t Work Anymore

By Martin Khor
The growing crisis of antibiotic resistance is catching the attention of policy-makers, but not at a fast enough rate to tackle it. More diseases are affected by resistance, meaning the bacteria cannot be killed even if different drugs are used on some patients, who then succumb.