June 18, 2025
Overview:
Antibiotic stewardship promotes the responsible use of antibiotics, but there is still limited data on what appropriate use looks like on a global scale.
In this OHT collaborative study, researchers estimated how much antibiotics were used in 2019 to treat pneumonia and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) flare-ups across the 20 most populous countries in the world.
Using the World Health Organization’s (WHO) AWaRe classification, the researchers based their estimates on typical bacterial infection rates and treatment pathways, including what happens when first-line treatments fail.
The Question:
Which antibiotics would be most in demand in cases where first-line antibiotics fail?
The Findings:
- The researchers found that penicillins (76 percent) and cephalosporins (23 percent) were the most commonly required antibiotics to treat community-acquired pneumonia, hospital-acquired pneumonia, and COPD.
- In total, 2.28 million kg of penicillins and 676,000 kg of cephalosporins were needed in 2019.
- India and China were the largest consumers of penicillins, accounting for nearly 60 percent of total use.
- On a per capita basis, penicillin demand was highest in India, Brazil, and Germany.
The article provides a data-driven framework to help countries more accurately estimate their antibiotic needs, supporting better planning, more effective stewardship, and efforts to curb AMR.
Read the article published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases here.
