ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE

In 2014, the World Health Organisation stated that “without urgent, coordinated action… the world is headed for a post-antibiotic era, in which common infections and minor injuries which have been treatable for decades can once again kill.” What this means is that minor surgical procedures and small grazes could prove deadly.

Dame Sally Davies, the UK’s chief medical officer has herself added to this by warning that bacterial resistance to antibiotic treatment is a “ticking time bomb” that should be ranked alongside terrorism in the threat it poses to the nation. She has also pointed out that pharmaceutical companies seem to feel little economic incentive to develop new antibiotics. In contrast to some other medications, antibiotics are only used for a week or two when they are needed, so there is not such great profit in their development. Davies observed that there hasn’t been a new class of antibiotic since the late eighties and that there are very few antibiotics in the pipeline of the large pharmaceutical companies.

Overuse of antibiotics is one of the key factors in growing drug resistance along with poor infections control and poor antibiotics. Countries where antibiotics are available over the counter tend to have greater levels of overuse. The Baltic countries have markedly low antibiotic use.

Deaths attributed to antibiotic resistance in Europe are estimated to be 25, 000 per annum, and by 2050 are estimated to overtake cancer deaths.