WHO/Q. Mattingly
© Credits

Antimicrobial resistance

    Overview

    Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) threatens the effective prevention and treatment of an ever-increasing range of infections caused by bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi.

    AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death. As a result, the medicines become ineffective and infections persist in the body, increasing the risk of spread to others.

    Antimicrobials - including antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals and antiparasitics - are medicines used to prevent and treat infections in humans, animals and plants. Microorganisms that develop antimicrobial resistance are sometimes referred to as “superbugs”.

    News

    All →

    Latest publications

    All →
    Analysis of antibacterial agents in clinical and preclinical development: overview and analysis 2025

    The World Health Organization’s (WHO) “2025 Antibacterial agents in clinical and preclinical development: an overview and analysis” report...

    Landscape analysis of commercially available and pipeline in vitro diagnostics for bacterial priority pathogens

    This report maps the available and pipeline diagnostics to detect and identify WHO bacterial priority pathogens and to perform phenotypic antimicrobial...

    WHO recommendation on antibiotic prophylaxis during labour for vaginal birth

    The primary audience for this guideline is health professionals who are responsible for developing national and local health protocols and policies, as...

    Country preparedness for the introduction and appropriate use of antibiotics: operational guidance

    WHO’s Country preparedness for the introduction and appropriate use of antibiotics: operational guidance (“operational guidance”) provides...

    Our work

    Documents

    All →
    Thumbnail for Global Call to Action to address AMR

    Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the greatest global health threats of our time, undermining our ability to treat infections and deliver safe medical...

    WAAW campaign guide

    Get involved in WAAW 2025: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World...

    Cover AMR CHW

    The WHO People-centred approach to addressing antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in human health calls for mainstreaming AMR-related interventions into...

    Country profiles

    Country profiles

    Country profiles present selected data, statistics and information to provide national health profiles at given points in time.
    GO