EU fact of the week
date: 17/11/2017
"We face a frightening post-antibiotic future"
Anti-microbial resistance (AMR) is already responsible for some 25,000 deaths a year in the EU, as well as €1.5 billion in healthcare costs and productivity losses. By 2050 it could kill one person every three seconds or 10.5 million people a year, worldwide.
The EU's health and science Commissioners warned of an "unthinkable future" where resistance to antibiotics prevents lifesaving operations and kills more people than cancer in a hard-hitting statement marking the tenth European Antibiotic awareness day on 15 November. They also called for the stepping up of national, European and global efforts to combat the threat.