DRUG RESISTANCE IN E. COLI, KLEBSIELLA DOUBLES: ICMR

"Who speaks for sepsis deaths?" — A question that humanises AMR and demands urgent action.

- - Ruchira Talapatra

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) — the "silent pandemic" — is among the world's biggest health threats. It happens when bacteria, viruses, fungi, or parasites evolve to resist the drugs that once killed them, making common infections hard or even impossible to treat.

At a national AMR media workshop in New Delhi this month, experts warned the crisis can't be ignored. Dr. S.S. Lal, Director of ReAct Asia Pacific, opened the event stressing AMR's urgency and the media's role in "breaking the silence" and holding all stakeholders accountable.

The message was clear: AMR is already here, already deadly, and needs action now. On 7 August 2025, at the "AMR: The Silent Pandemic — Let Media Break the Silence" workshop, health experts and journalists discussed the rising danger of drug-resistant infections and the need for urgent, coordinated action across sectors.

GROWING THREAT MEASURED IN LIVES AND DATA

In 2021, 4.71 million deaths worldwide were linked to bacterial AMR, with 1.14 million directly caused by it — already more than HIV/AIDS or malaria. Forecasts are worse: between 2025 and 2050, drug-resistant infections could kill 39 million people — three lives every minute. By 2050, direct AMR deaths could hit 1.9 million a year, and total AMR-related deaths 8.2 million annually — almost one death every few seconds. The economic toll could reach $3.4 trillion in GDP losses yearly by 2030, pushing 24 million more people into extreme poverty. UK AMR Envoy Dame Sally Davies warned: "The world is facing an antibiotic emergency."

India, seen as an AMR hotspot, shows how fast resistance is rising. ICMR data (2017-2022) found carbapenem resistance in E. coli doubled from ~20% to 40%, and in Klebsiella pneumoniae from 40% to 60%. This means far more infections are untreatable with top-tier drugs.

AIIMS Bhopal (2025) found only 39% of