About Us

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According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 2.8 million antibiotic-resistant infections occur in the United States each year, resulting in more than 35,000 deaths;* an annual death rate that exceeds many cancers, including prostate cancer, liver cancer and leukemias.+ In Europe, antibiotic resistance is responsible for an estimated 33,000 deaths each year with 75% of the burden of antibiotic resistance due to Healthcare Associated Infections (HAIs).^  Antimicrobials are paramount to modern medicine.  In addition to treating infections and controlling their spread, these drugs enable safe surgery, facilitate childbirth, and make new treatments for diseases such as cancer a realistic possibility.  However, as microbes evolve and develop resistance these life-saving drugs are losing effectiveness.  Experts warn of a slow-burning pandemic from drug-resistant infections, which pre-COVID-19 caused an estimated 700,000 deaths worldwide each year.~ Absent significant developments and a sustained effort by 2050 the annual global death toll caused by antimicrobial resistance could reach 10 million.# 

*2019 AR Threats Report www.cdc.gov/DrugResistance/Biggest-Threats.html. 

+ Cancer Statistics, 2020. CA CANCER J CLIN 2020;70:7–30 

^ www.ecdc.europa.eu/en/publications-data/infographic-antibiotic-resistance-increasing-threat-human-health 

~ Access Barriers to Antibiotics.2019. Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics & Policy (CDDEP), 2019. 

# IACG Report to The Secretary General of The United Nations April 2019