An impending health threat endangering the lives of tens of millions… Is the world prepared?

A very serious health dilemma awaits the world: bacterial infections are becoming more resistant to antibiotics, and experts warn that this global health crisis could claim the lives of millions of people in the near future, according to medical researcher Phyllis Arthur.

The researcher added in an article on the American website The Hill that, according to a report published by the scientific journal The Lancet, antibiotic resistance is expected to contribute to about 170 million deaths worldwide within the next 25 years.

According to Phyllis, the main problem is that bacterial infections have become more resistant to traditional antibiotic treatment. It is estimated that one in six bacterial infections has become resistant to antibiotics, further complicating the treatment of many infectious diseases.

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The author explained that this gap between rapidly evolving microorganisms and declining production lines for antibiotics could pave the way for even greater health disasters in the future.

She said that developing new antibiotics is the only solution, noting that this research faces several challenges.

In 2024, for example, work was underway to develop new antibiotics, but only five out of 90 were effective against pathogens that the World Health Organization classified as “critical priority”.

Phyllis says the lack of innovation and finding solutions is due to the economic constraints that pharmaceutical companies face in developing new antibiotics, because they are unable to make a real profit from selling them.

She explained that the overuse of traditional antibiotics has led to increased bacterial resistance, as microbes adapt to drugs over time and become more difficult to treat.

Studies indicate that drug-resistant bacteria currently cause the death of more than one million people annually worldwide.

According to some estimates, developing a single antibiotic could take more than 10 years at a cost of over $1 billion, while sales revenue could be negative by $50 million.

As a result of these circumstances, major companies have withdrawn from the antibiotic development market, while smaller companies continue to struggle to survive.