Antibiotic Resistance Poses ‘Catastrophic Threat’ To Public Health, England’s Top Health Official Warns In Report

In her first annual report, “England’s top health official said Monday that antibiotic resistance poses a ‘catastrophic threat’ to public health,” GlobalPost reports (DeFraia, 3/11). “Sally Davies … said global action is needed to fight antibiotic, or antimicrobial, resistance and fill a drug ‘discovery void’ by researching and developing new medicines to treat emerging, mutating infections,” Reuters writes (Kelland, 3/10). “If tough measures are not taken to restrict the use of antibiotics and no new ones are discovered, [Davies said], ‘we will find ourselves in a health system not dissimilar to the early 19th century at some point,'” the Guardian notes (Boseley, 3/10). Davies “said the problem is ‘as important as climate change for the world’ and urged the [British] government to raise the issue when meeting political leaders at the G8 summit in London in April,” according to The Telegraph (3/10). A related post in the Guardian’s “Data Blog” provides an infographic comparing antibiotic use globally (Rogers, 3/11).

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