A new study has revealed that unchecked drug-resistant superbugs can kill 10 million a year and cost the global economy up to 100 trillion dollars by 2050.
According to the economist Jim O'Neill, who chaired the report, antimicrobial resistance is a more certain threat than climate change in the short term, , the Guardian reported.
O'Neill, added that they cannot allow AMR to materialise for any of them, especially their fellow citizens in the Bric (Brazil, Russia, India, China) and Mint (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria, Turkey) world and so their ambition is such that they will search for bold, clear and practical long term solutions.
The report acknowledges that the human impact should be enough to prompt major intervention but says the economic figures illustrate that the issue "transcends health policy."
Three bacteria, K pneumoniae, E coli and Staphylococcus aureus, out of a group of seven highlighted by the World Health Organisation, are already showing concerning resistance levels, as well as, HIV, tuberculosis and malaria are broader public health issues for which resistance is a concern.
The world's most populous countries, India and China, face 2 million and 1 million deaths a year respectively by 2050 and one in every four deaths in Nigeria by then is forecast to be attributable to AMR. Africa as a continent "will suffer greatly", the report warns.
Dame Sally Davies, chief medical officer for England, said that this is a compelling piece of work, which takes us a step forward in understanding the true gravity of the threat, and it demonstrates that the world simply cannot afford not to take action.