Signal Global human antibiotic consumption up 46% from 2000 to 2018

Summary

The report says resistance arises naturally but has been worsened by careless use of antibiotics and antifungals, and it presents consumption trends as key evidence. In the UK, the use of antibiotics in people has fallen in recent years. Across the world, however, human antibiotic consumption grew by 46% between 2000 and 2018. In livestock too, UK antimicrobial use has dropped by 59% since 2014, while global use in farm animals is estimated to have risen by around 58% from 2010 to 2020. Given these diverging trends, the report stresses that AMR is an international problem no country can solve alone, and it explains that the UK supports action in low- and middle-income countries through the Fleming Fund and other funding.