A new study commissioned by the U.K. government earlier this year is suggesting that within 35 years, death from infections previously curable by antibiotics will be the leading cause of death the world over.
The broad-ranging report, called the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance, says we’re on track for drug resistance, which is estimated to have caused around 700,000 deaths globally this year, to cause up to 10 million by 2050 if further action is not taken. Economically, they forecast this will cost the world $100 trillion annually!
A CNBC news story published earlier this month (Dec 11, 2015) goes on to describe the highlights of the study, and the reasons why so little action is happening on that front.
“Antibiotic use is rising around the world, while at the same time the number of new antibiotics is falling. If these medicines become ineffectual, there could be a huge economic ramifications, as people of working age are affected, and once treatable diseases become incurable again.
New antibiotics take time and money to develop, and by their nature are less effective the more they are used. As such, many pharmaceutical companies have slowed development of these kinds of drugs.”
Read the full story here: Drug resistance deadlier than cancer by 2050: Study