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You can help fight antibiotic resistance by preventing infections, using antibiotics only when they are needed, and following a health professional’s advice. If you may have an infection, the right treatment depends on the diagnosis and, when appropriate, laboratory testing—not on a general article.
How can I fight antibiotic resistance?
Prevent infections where you can
- Wash your hands or otherwise keep them clean.
- Get recommended vaccines.
- Clean and care for cuts, and manage chronic conditions with professional guidance.
- Ask a health professional about infection risks that apply to you.
These steps help prevent infections and reduce opportunities for bacteria to spread. They are useful whether or not someone is taking antibiotics.
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Use antibiotics only with professional guidance
Antibiotics treat some bacterial infections; they do not treat viral illnesses. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) puts it plainly in its 2025 guidance, “Healthy Habits: Antibiotic Do’s and Don’ts”: “Antibiotics DO NOT work on viruses.” Unnecessary or inappropriate use can cause side effects and contribute to resistance.
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Do not start, stop, save, or share prescription antibiotics without professional guidance. If you have questions about a prescribed medicine or symptoms change, contact the clinician who is treating you.
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What is antibiotic resistance, and why does it matter?
Antibiotic resistance is a property of bacteria: resistant bacteria can make medicines less effective, so an infection may be harder to treat. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the broader term; it also includes resistance in viruses, fungi, and parasites.
Resistance is not a single germ or a uniform worldwide risk. The World Health Organization’s (WHO) 2024 Bacterial Priority Pathogens List covers 24 pathogens across 15 families. It is a framework to help policymakers and researchers prioritize action, not a personalized estimate of an individual’s risk.
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The consequences depend on the organism, the infection, and which treatments are available. CDC notes that resistant infections may require second- or third-line treatment, prolong care and recovery, and in some cases have no treatment options. These outcomes are possible, not inevitable.
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Symptoms alone do not reliably identify the bacteria causing an infection or which medicines will work against them. A clinician assesses the person and the suspected infection; when indicated, laboratory diagnosis and susceptibility testing can help identify the organism and which antibiotics are likely to be effective. The appropriate evaluation depends on the case.
Resistance patterns vary by place and over time. That is one reason treatment for a suspected resistant infection cannot be selected from a generic list: clinicians need to consider the patient, infection, and relevant test results and local information. For an actual illness, follow current local public-health advice and consult a health professional rather than choosing or changing an antibiotic yourself.
What can health systems do beyond individual action?
Effective responses work at several levels. The WHO’s 2025 primary-health-care brief describes eight priority interventions and builds on a people-centred package of 13 interventions. The table summarizes how the roles fit together; it is not a ranking of interventions.
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| Level | Main contribution | What it can improve |
|---|---|---|
| Individuals and communities | Prevent infections and use antibiotics only with professional guidance | Fewer infections and less unnecessary antibiotic use |
| Clinicians | Assess illness and use diagnosis and testing when indicated to guide treatment | More appropriate treatment for the person and infection |
| Laboratories and health systems | Build access to testing and track which bacteria and medicines are involved | Better-informed care and visibility into changing resistance patterns |
| Policymakers and researchers | Set priorities, support appropriate access and use, and develop future tools and medicines | Coordinated action across settings and over time |
WHO’s Global antibiotic resistance surveillance report 2025 analyzes 2023 data: more than 23 million bacteriologically confirmed cases from 104 countries underpin its analysis, with adjusted global and regional estimates for 93 infection-pathogen-antibiotic combinations. These figures describe the report’s dataset and methods; they are not complete, uniform coverage of every country, pathogen, or infection, nor a personal or country-specific risk estimate.
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WHO’s 2025 call to action sets global targets for 2030. They are goals, not outcomes already achieved.
| Global target | What the target concerns |
|---|---|
| 10% reduction | AMR-related deaths by 2030 |
| 80% of countries | Able to test resistance in GLASS-listed pathogens |
| 70% of human antibiotic use | From the Access category |
GLASS is WHO’s Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System. The targets connect the scale of the response to measurable aims: reducing deaths, expanding testing capacity, and improving the mix of antibiotics used.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why are surveillance and new medicines both needed?
Surveillance helps show where resistance is occurring and how patterns change; diagnosis helps clinicians make decisions for an individual patient. Neither replaces infection prevention or appropriate antibiotic use. Together, they help health systems act on local needs rather than assume the same resistance picture everywhere.
New medicines are also part of the response, but a drug candidate is not an approved or available treatment. WHO reported 97 clinical antibacterial candidates in 2023 and 90 in 2025. Those are pipeline counts, not counts of approved therapies or predictions of future approvals. The smaller 2025 pipeline underscores why research must complement—not substitute for—prevention, testing, surveillance, and careful use of existing medicines.
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