The number of lives lost to infections that are resistant to the medications intended to treat them could increase nearly 70 per cent globally by 2050, a new study projects — further showing the burden of the ongoing superbug crisis. Cumulatively, from 2025 to 2050, more than 39 million deaths across the world could be directly attributable to antimicrobial resistance, or AMR, according to the study published in The Lancet. Antimicrobial resistance happens when pathogens such as bacteria and fungi develop the ability to evade the medications used to kill them.
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today The World Health Organisation has called AMR “one of the top global public health and development threats” driven by the misuse and overuse of antimicrobial medications in humans, animals and plants, which can help pathogens develop a resistance to them. The new study reveals when it comes to the prevalence of AMR and its effects, “we expect it to get worse,” lead author Dr Chris Murray, who is the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation director, said. “We need appropriate attention on new antibiotics and antibiotic stewardship so that we can address what is really quite a large problem,” he said.
Melbourne’s RMIT University immunology and gut health expert Professor Rajaraman Eri said the rise of antimicrobial resistance could potentially reverse “decades of medical progress”. He said an upcoming UN General Assembly d.