Extracts below and a comment from me. Full text: https://www.who.int/westernpacific/newsroom/commentaries/detail/the-next...
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18 November 2025
Almost a century ago, the discovery of antimicrobials changed the course of modern medicine. We saw previously fatal infections—pneumonia, sepsis, tuberculosis—become treatable, and surgeries become safer. Millions upon millions of lives have been saved since then.
But that is changing. Today, due to misuse and overuse of these medicines, medical advances long taken for granted are at risk of being erased...
AMR is truly one of the most urgent, complex and, yes, frightening health challenges of our time. Like that young child in Tonga, as many as 5.2 million people across the 38 countries and areas of the Western Pacific Region could die as a result of drug-resistant bacterial infections between 2020 and 2030. Globally, nearly five million deaths in 2019 were associated with bacterial AMR, with almost 1.3 million deaths directly attributed to drug-resistant infections.
There are actions each of us can take individually to help collectively reverse current trends in antimicrobial resistance.
When people take antibiotics only when truly necessary — they help protect everyone from antimicrobial resistance.
When clinicians prescribe antibiotics wisely — they safeguard hard-won medical advances.
When hospitals strengthen infection prevention and invest in reliable and affordable diagnostics — lives are saved.
When policymakers embed AMR programmes into national health and development agendas, they build fit-for-purpose systems, helping ensure that the health of future generations is secured.
Dr Saia Ma’u Piukala is Regional Director for WHO in the Western Pacific Region.
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COMMENT (NPW): It is remarkable how little attention has been given to the underlying problem: a lack of knowledge among prescribers and users about when and how to use antibiotics effectively.
We have talked about this many times on HIFA but WHO and its partners are not taking the necessary action.
HIFA stands by to help accelerate progress to build a world where every prescriber and user of medicines has access to the reliable information they need to guide decision-making.
This goes beyond information on individual medicines. Prescribers and users need guidance on which antibiotic to use and when. The leading publication for this purpose is, or was, the British National Forumlary. I say 'was' because the BNF was originally free to access online for anybody in the world. At one time I advocated for the BNF to be available not only freely but also to be available open-access so that any country could use it (if they so wish) as a basis for their own formulary. However, sadly the BNF was soon put behind a paywall and is therefore neither free to use nor adapt. The Commonwealth Pharmacists Association continues to distribute free print copies to health workers in LMICs, demonstrating its continued popularity.
Perhaps we would not be in such a mess now if we had focused more on information needs.
Please see:
1. HIFA poster: Medicines Information For All: https://www.hifa.org/sites/default/files/publications_pdf/HIFA_PUM_poste...
2. HIFA's systematic review with the University of Nagasaki: https://www.hifa.org/sites/default/files/publications_pdf/BMJGlobalHealt...
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org