In the EU, 33,000 people die every year from such multi-resistant germs.
(Photo: dpa)
Brussels, Berlin Ever since antibiotics have been around, many illnesses that used to have a fatal outcome have been considered harmless. Many inflammations have lost their horror. But the bacteria have now adapted: some pathogens are resistant to all antibiotics that are available for treatment.
In the EU, 33,000 people die every year from such multi-resistant germs. The health consequences are comparable to those of influenza, tuberculosis and HIV combined. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 1.3 million people die every year worldwide because antibiotics do not work on their infections. Such an infection was at least partly responsible for almost five million deaths, as shown by a study reported last year in the specialist journal The Lancet.
Experts are therefore talking about a “silent pandemic” and urgently warn against underestimating it. But the European Union, which now wants to do something about it, encounters numerous problems. One of them: Each new drug devours billions.
No new drug classes for 30 years
“We are in the middle of a real crisis,” says Wolfgang Philipp, deputy director of the EU health authority Hera. “Institutions that deal with crisis management must focus their work more on them.”
But progress has stalled, especially in the development of active ingredients, which is so important. “The golden era of antibiotics is over,” explains Ulrich Schaible from the Leibniz Research Network Infections. “For 30 years, no new drug classes have been used in the clinics.”
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The EU now wants to invest in the development of reserve antibiotics that can only be used when other means are not sufficient. This will cost a lot of money, but without funding, companies have little interest in the topic. “The development of a new antibiotic costs one to several billion euros,” says Han Steut