18 November 2025 – Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has emerged as one of the most serious threats to global health, food security and the environment. It is harming our health, food systems, environment and economies. This is not a future challenge. It is happening now. Drug-resistant infections are increasing, yet awareness, investment and action are falling short. Common infections are becoming harder – even impossible – to treat.
AMR can affect anyone, everywhere, no matter your age or where you live.
The theme of WAAW 2025 (18–24 November) is Act Now: Protect Our Present, Secure Our Future. The theme underscores the urgent need to take bold, united action to address AMR and calls for promises to be turned into tangible lifesaving interventions, for improved surveillance of resistance and antibiotic use, for investment to ensure equitable access to quality medicines, diagnostics and vaccines, and for effective infection prevention and control measures to be implemented across human, animal and environmental health.
In the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region, AMR figures are alarming. The latest data from WHO’s Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS) show persistent challenges.
In 2023, nearly 1 in 3 bacterial infections in the EM region were resistant to antibiotics, among the highest figures globally.
MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) resistance in bloodstream infections, a Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicator, was 50.3%, the highest amongst all WHO regions.
Acinetobacter species resistance to imipenem – a reserve or last-resort option used to treat multi drug-resistant infections – was 66.5%, the highest figure globally, and it is rising by 11.3% annually, the highest rate of increase among WHO regions.
Salmonella resistance to ceftriaxone stood at 56.9%, the highest among WHO regions.
GLASS data does, however, show some progress in surveillance. Countries and territories (CTAs) in the region have all reported AMR data to GLASS at least once since 2016, the only WHO region to do so.
Shigella resistance to azithromycin, at 1.2%, is the lowest globally.
Klebsiella pneumoniae resistance to cefotaxime registered a 5.2% annual decline.
While the findings underscore the Region’s commitment to improving surveillance, they also highlight the urgent need for action to reduce resistance and preserve effective treatments.
Antibiotic misuse is the most important factor fueling AMR. The WHO report on antibiotic use shows that overall antibiotic use in the Eastern Mediterranean and South-East Asia regions was the highest of all WHO regions. Antibiotic use was 23.0 defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day (DID) in the Eastern Mediterranean.
In 2023, the global target was to have at least 60% of national antibiotic consumption coming from the “Access” group antibiotics—which are the first line antibiotics with low potential for resistance and indicated for common infections. While globally, 58% (35/60) of CTAs reported meeting the WHO 2023 target, only 4 countries out of the 9 countries which submitted data for 2023 from the Eastern Mediterranean region achieved the target. Moreover, only 1 country in the region—Tunisia—has achieved the 2030 target (70% Access) set by the UN General Assembly in 2024.
When it comes to AMR, everyone has a role to play - whether it is hospital administrators setting up an antimicrobial stewardship team, farmers adopting good agriculture and waste management practices, parents giving antibiotics to their children without a prescription or industries taking care of effluents, every action counts.
On WAAW 2025, WHO is calling on health workers to prescribe antibiotics responsibly and educate patients on their proper use. It is calling on policymakers to fund AMR programmes and enforce regulations that limit misuse and support innovation, on farmers to adopt sustainable practices to reduce antibiotic use in animals, industries to adhere to wastewater treatment and on the media to share accurate information and highlight success stories.
Individuals can protect themselves and others by practicing good hygiene, ensuring vaccinations are up to date and by taking antibiotics only when prescribed by a health care professional.
“This year’s theme, Act Now: Protect Our Present, Secure Our Future, reminds us that every one of us has a role to play. We must turn political commitment into action by ensuring clean water and hygiene in all facilities, using antimicrobials responsibly, investing in innovation and resilient health systems and embracing the One Health approach,” said WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean Dr Hanan Balkhy.
AMR is a global challenge. It demands a global response. By acting together, we can save lives, preserve the power of antibiotics and other antimicrobials, improve health systems and protect ourselves and the environment for generations to come.
To learn more about global efforts to combat AMR, visit https://www.emro.who.int/world-antimicrobial-awareness-week/2025/index.html
World AMR Awareness Week 2025 campaign website
Note to Editors
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites no longer respond to antimicrobial agents. As a result of drug resistance, antibiotics and other antimicrobial agents become ineffective and infections become difficult or impossible to treat, increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death.
Every year, from 18 to 24 November, the world comes together to observe World AMR Awareness Week. The global campaign raises the alarm about AMR and advocates for action to stop the rise and spread of drug-resistant infections.
For more information on AMR visit https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/antimicrobial-resistance
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