Fridi

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is on track to become deadlier than cancer by 2050, yet it barely registers in global political debates, including at Davos.

At a discussion during the World Economic Forum week, health leaders warned that AMR is effectively a "silent pandemic". Drug-resistant infections are already rising, and without coordinated global action they could kill more people annually than cancer within a generation. Unlike many emerging threats, this one is predictable. It is not hypothetical, it is already happening.

AMR is fueled by antibiotic overuse, weak infection control, fragile health systems, and declining public trust in science. The solutions are known: better antibiotic stewardship, stronger surveillance, investment in new treatments (including bacteriophage-based therapies), improved hygiene and prevention, and sustained policy coordination. But political urgency and funding remain far below what the risk justifies.

Cancer cases are projected to reach 30.5 million new diagnoses annually by 2050. Yet credible projections suggest drug-resistant infections could surpass cancer as a leading cause of death if current trends continue.

This is not alarmism. It is a measurable trajectory supported by data. A major global analysis published in The Lancet estimates that antimicrobial resistance could cause up to 10 million deaths per year by 2050 if no action is taken:
https://www.thelancet.com/article/S0140-6736(21)02724-0/fulltext

AMR isn't a future crisis. It is a slow-burn systemic failure, and the longer it stays outside the core economic and political agenda, the more expensive and deadly it becomes.