Economic losses

Antibiotic resistance is costly, both for the individual and for society.

Globally, the rising rates of resistant infections, even in the best of hospitals, are pushing up costs of treatment, leading to difficulty in treating infections and worse outcomes for the patients. Providing treatment becomes more complicated and requires increased knowledge among health care personnel, and less evaluated methods and treatments may have to be used. As prolonged illness and premature death take their toll, families may experience economic losses due to reduced incomes. Also, inappropriate use of antibiotics, such as taking antibiotics for a cold, means unnecessary out of pocket spending for a drug that is not needed. This money could instead be spent on relevant medicines or education.

With an increased proportion of the population suffering from prolonged illness, goals for health and development become even more difficult to achieve. Increased illness coupled with limited options for treatment further strains low-income settings already struggling with low resources. In low and middle-income countries where the burden of infectious diseases is higher and data scarcer, studies show that the failure of first line antibiotics has resulted in increased mortality and multiplied costs.

Antibiotic resistant infections also affect animals, and the increasing rates of resistance also means that it becomes more difficult to treat such infections. Death to livestock can further damage the finances of both individual citizens and society.

Economic burden data of antibiotic resistance

Resistance has a significant impact on the cost of treatments. The economic impact of uncontrolled antibiotic resistance would be staggering:

• $412 billion in global annual treatment costs for resistant bacterial infections up to 2035.
• $443 billion in annual productivity losses due to lower workforce participation up to 2035

Novel treatments for multidrug-resistant infections can cost up to tens of thousands of US dollars, which ultimately make the medicines unreachable for many.

Selected Resources