More than 39 million people could die from antibiotic-resistant infections between now and 2050, new global analysis estimates. Researchers say “now is the time to act” to protect people across the world from the threat posed by resistance to drugs that are used to treat infection. The data indicates that more than one million people died from drug-resistant infections globally each year between 1990 and 2021.
The new worldwide analysis by the Global Research on Antimicrobial Resistance (Gram) project found that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) deaths among children aged under five fell by 50% over this time period. However, they increased by more than 80% among people aged 70 and older. The findings, published in The Lancet, highlight the need for measures that combine infection prevention, vaccination, minimising inappropriate antibiotic use and research into new antibiotics to mitigate the number of AMR deaths that are forecast for 2050.
The study also estimates 1.91 million people could potentially die as a direct result of AMR in 2050, an increase of almost 70% per year compared to 2022. Over the same period, the number of deaths in which AMR bacteria play a role will increase by almost 75% from 4.
71 million to 8.22 million per year. AMR occurs when bacteria and diseases evolve to no longer respond to drugs designed to treat the infection.
Study author Dr Mohsen Naghavi, team leader of the AMR research team at the Institute of Health Metrics (IHME), University of Washi.