Antimicrobials are essential to modern medicine. They are one of the major discoveries in the history of public health, protecting against death from infectious disease, and bringing safety to surgery. This lifeline, though, is at breaking point. So many bacteria have become resistant to them that a public health emergency looms. In the EU alone, 25 000 patients die annually as a result of infections caused by resistant bacteria – entailing also an economic cost of €1.5 billion a year. Looking to the future, if not tackled drug-resistant infections could kill an extra 10 million people worldwide by 2050.
The needs are urgent. New medicines must be introduced to treat resistant infections, and prescribing and usage habits have to change to conserve the dwindling arsenal.