The World Health Organisation (WHO) on Friday released its updated Bacterial Priority Pathogens List (BPPL) 2024, featuring 15 families of antibiotic-resistant bacteria grouped into critical, high and medium categories for prioritisation.
The list provides guidance on the development of new and necessary treatments to stop the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites no longer respond to medicines, making people sicker and increasing the risk of disease spread, illness and deaths.
It driven in large part by the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials.
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The updated BPPL incorporates new evidence and expert insights to guide research and development for new antibiotics and promote international coordination to foster innovation.
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“By mapping the global burden of drug-resistant bacteria and assessing their impact on public health, this list is key to guiding investment and grappling with the antibiotics pipeline and access crisis,” Dr Yukiko Nakatani, WHO’s Assistant Director- General for Antimicrobial Resistance ad interim, said.
“Since the first [BPPL] was released in 2017, the threat of antimicrobial resistance has intensified, eroding the efficacy of numerous antibiotics and putting many of the gains of modern medicine at risk,” Nakatani added.
WHO says the critical priority pathogens, such as gram-negative bacteria resistant to last-resort antibiotics, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis resistant to the antibiotic rifampicin, present major global threats due to their high burden, and ability to resist treatment and spread resistance to other bacteria.
The health agency adds that gram-negative bacteria have built-in abilities to find new ways to resist treatment and can pass along genetic material that allows other bacteria to become drug-resistant as well.
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WHO further states that other high priority pathogens present unique public health challenges, including persistent infections and resistance to multiple antibiotics, necessitating targeted research and public health interventions.
“Antimicrobial resistance jeopardises our ability to effectively treat high burden infections, such as tuberculosis, leading to severe illness and increased mortality rates,” Dr Jérôme Salomon, WHO’s Assistant Director- General for Universal Health Coverage, Communicable and Noncommunicable Diseases, said.
The BPPL 2024 emphasises the need for a comprehensive public health approach to addressing AMR, including universal access to quality and affordable measures for prevention, diagnosis and appropriate treatment of infections.
It has seen the removal of five pathogen-antibiotic combinations that were included in BPPL 2017, and the addition of four new combinations.
Studies have shown that AMR is a significant health challenge in Malawi, with 3,600 deaths in 2019 attributable to the condition and 15,700 others associated with it.
According to medical researchers, the rise in cases of AMR in Malawi is largely due to patients’ use of antibiotics without doctors’ prescription.
