New Antimicrobial Resistance Centre will tackle humanity’s greatest threat

Alongside health threats like COVID-19 and heart disease, an even larger health crisis is brewing. Antibiotic resistance is considered by the Word Health Organization (WHO) to be one of humanity’s greatest threats. It occurs when the bacteria that make us sick – causing everything from an infected cut to pneumonia – no longer respond to antibiotics.

Antibiotics are the cornerstone of modern medicine. They allow us to perform complex surgeries without the risk of a deadly infection; they enable joint replacements and organ transplants; and they keep cancer patients safe as they go through treatments that compromise their natural immune systems. Without antibiotics, none of these lifesaving treatments would be possible without significant risk to the patient.

How is it that the antibiotics we have relied on for over half a century have suddenly stopped working? The truth is, there is nothing sudden about it.