Antibiotic accountability: how countries and companies perform

Patients in north Africa and the Middle East are using antibiotics in sharply rising quantities far beyond the global average, raising concerns over the escalating risks of resistance to medicines to treat bacterial infections, according to a new analysis. The data — mapped by the FT from work led by a team at the University of Oxford and published in Lancet Planetary Health — estimates antibiotic consumption for 204 countries between 2000 and 2018. It shows a 46 per cent increase in global antibiotic usage, with a surge in nations including India and Vietnam.