Drug resistance likely to kill 400,000 Canadians by 2050, report predicts

CBC | Superbugs are likely to kill nearly 400,000 Canadians and cost the economy about $400 billion in gross domestic product over the next 30 years, warns a landmark report. An expert panel cautions in “When antibiotics fail: The growing cost of antimicrobial resistance in Canada” that the percentage of bacterial infections resistant to treatment is likely to grow significantly by 2050. “This is almost as big, if not bigger, than climate change in a sense because this is directly impacting people. The numbers are just staggering,” Brett Finlay, a University of British Columbia microbiology professor who chaired the panel. “It’s time to do something now.” Canada has been slow to react to the drug-resistance threat or to even track how many Canadians die each year from drug-resistant bacterial infections. The report suggests about 5400 people die from drug-resistant infections each year but Canada lacks an effective federal, provincial and territorial surveillance system.