--- title: Drug-Resistance Bacteria Could Cost $100 Trillion: Report description: Rising rates of drug-resistant infections could lead to the death of some 10 million people and cost some $100 trillion in 2050. canonical: https://time.com/3630463/drug-resistant-infections-antibiotics/ author: Noah Rayman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-11T20:24:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T02:47:19.352Z article:section: Health og:title: Drug-Resistance Bacteria Could Cost $100 Trillion: Report og:description: Rising rates of drug-resistant infections could lead to the death of some 10 million people and cost some $100 trillion in 2050. og:url: https://time.com/3630463/drug-resistant-infections-antibiotics/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Drug-Resistance Bacteria Could Cost $100 Trillion: Report twitter:description: Rising rates of drug-resistant infections could lead to the death of some 10 million people and cost some $100 trillion in 2050. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Superbugs Could Kill 10 Million By 2050, Report Warns > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=2643d184-172d-4ca8-b601-0f692b754e78&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1)  by [Noah Rayman](https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Dec 11, 2014 8:24 PM UTC  by [Noah Rayman](https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Dec 11, 2014 8:24 PM UTC Rising rates of drug-resistant infections [could lead to the death of some 10 million people](http://time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/amr%5Freview%5Fpaper%5F-%5Ftackling%5Fa%5Fcrisis%5Ffor%5Fthe%5Fhealth%5Fand%5Fwealth%5Fof%5Fnations%5F1.pdf) and cost some $100 trillion in 2050. That’s the startling conclusion of a review commissioned by British Prime Minister David Cameron which has warned that if antimicrobial resistance is not curbed, it could undermine modern medicine and cut up to 3.5% from the global economy. The threat could also disproportionately affect the developing world, according to the report authored by economist Jim O’Neill, leading to more than 4 million deaths in Africa and 4.7 million deaths in Asia. By comparison, cancer killed 8.2 million people worldwide in 2014. The report, which will be followed up by a full package of public health recommendations by 2016, called for “coherent international action that spans drug regulation and antimicrobial drugs use across humans, animals and the environment.” Specifically, the report said that antibacterial research, the use of alternatives like vaccines and international measures to reduce the spread of bacteria could help reduce the threat from drug-resistant infections. “It would be unforgiveable if the great progress made in combatting infectious diseases could be threatened by the lack of new drugs that are within reach, or for lack of common sense investment in infrastructure that keeps us safe from avoidable infections,” says the report. Read the entire report [here](http://time.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/amr%5Freview%5Fpaper%5F-%5Ftackling%5Fa%5Fcrisis%5Ffor%5Fthe%5Fhealth%5Fand%5Fwealth%5Fof%5Fnations%5F1.pdf). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3630463/drug-resistant-infections-antibiotics/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3630463/drug-resistant-infections-antibiotics/"},"headline":"Superbugs Could Kill 10 Million By 2050, Report Warns","datePublished":"2014-12-11T20:24:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:47:19.352Z","description":"Could be deadlier than cancer","url":"https://time.com/3630463/drug-resistant-infections-antibiotics/","keywords":["Infectious Disease","Bacteria"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Noah Rayman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/infectious-disease/","name":"Infectious Disease"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3630463/drug-resistant-infections-antibiotics/","name":"Superbugs Could Kill 10 Million By 2050, Report Warns"}}]}] ```