For the first time ever, the World Health Organization has published a catalogue of 12 families of bacteria that pose the greatest threat to human health.
The move is part of the agency’s efforts to address growing global resistance to antimicrobial medicines.
According to UN Radio, Christian Lindmeier, the WHO spokesperson says the list is divided into three categories according to the urgency of need for new antibiotics; from critical to high and medium priority.
The WHO list highlights in particular the threat of the so-called gram-negative bacteria that are resistant to multiple antibiotics.
Health experts from the world’s 20 major economies, also known as the G20, are meeting in the German capital of Berlin this week to draw attention to this problem.
