MEDICAL experts in Spain have warned that ‘superbugs’ could cause more deaths than cancer by 2025.
The worrying threat of infections caused by multi-resistant antibiotic bacteria has been discussed at the the National Congress of Clinical Laboratory in Valencia.
The increase in ‘superbugs’ makes treatments much harder, increases mortality and raises hospital costs.
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According to the World Health Organization (WHO), infections by resistant bacteria could cause up to 10 million deaths annually worldwide if control, prevention and development of new drugs are not intensified.
In 2024, the WHO published a document on research priorities to develop new antibiotics that work against multidrug-resistant bacteria.
Dr. Luis Martinez from Cordoba’s Reina Sofia University Hospital said: “We are in a real race against time.”
“Although in recent years several new antibiotics with activity against some of these superbugs have become available, strains resistant even to these state-of-the-art therapies have already been identified.”
The National Plan against Antibiotic Resistance (PRAN), promoted by the Ministry of Health and the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS), estimates that infections caused by resistant bacteria result in more than 4,000 deaths annually in Spain.
It calculates additional healthcare costs at over €150 million.
Although the use of antibiotics has fallen in recent years, those behind the National Plan say it is necessary to maintain active surveillance, promote responsible use and strengthen research to avoid any serious issues.
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