Antibiotic crisis worse than AIDS epidemic - WHO

Wow, I knew it was bad, but worse than the 1980's AIDS epidemic? I guess statistically speaking that might be the case, but talking to anyone who was part of a community devastated by AIDS back then the assertion is at least debatable.

In any case, I hope it doesn't take them as long to respond to as it did the AIDS crisis.

A child's scratched knee from falling off their bike, common bladder infections among the elderly in care homes and routine surgery to replace broken hips could all become fatal as antibiotics are becoming increasingly useless, the World Health Organisation has said. 

The crisis is bigger and more urgent than the Aids epidemic of the 1980s, it was warned. 

UK experts said the 'era of safe medicine is coming to an end' and government funds must be pumped into the production of new drugs. 

In the foreword to the report Dr Keiji Fukuda, WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Health Security, wrote: "A post-antibiotic era — in which common infections and minor injuries can kill — far from being an apocalyptic fantasy, is instead a very real possibility for the 21st century." He said: 

"Unless we take significant actions to improve efforts to prevent infections and also change how we produce, prescribe and use antibiotics, the world will lose more and more of these global public health goods and the implications will be devastating.” more