The killers within

The United Nations considers antibiotic resistance on par with Ebola and AIDS. According to the WHO, it could push 2.4 crore people into extreme poverty by 2030, and drug-resistant diseases could cause one crore deaths annually by 2050. Of these, 47 lakh deaths will be in Asia. At present, seven lakh deaths happen a year globally from drug-resistant diseases. The agency warns that more and more common diseases like respiratory tract infections, sexually transmitted infections and urinary tract infections are becoming untreatable because of antibiotic resistance. The economic losses could be devastating, estimated to be about $100 trillion in total by 2050.