Antibiotic resistance responsible for around 50,000 deaths per year in Europe and US

Professor Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer for England, states that the golden age of antibiotics which the world has taken for granted for well over fifty years has ended.  Dame Sally’s comments introduce The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries’ (IFoA) Longevity Bulletin on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), released today (19 May), at the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy’s (BSAC) Roundtable on the issue at the Wellcome Trust.  In the foreword to the report, Dame Sally states that the world is already seeing the consequence of AMR with estimates of around 50,000 deaths per year recently in Europe and the US attributed to antibiotic resistant infections.

The IFoA’s longevity bulletin examines the clinical implications, impacts on longevity and the potential economic cost of current trends in AMR by leading experts in the field such as Victoria Wells, Laura JV Piddock, Matthew Edwards, Cormac Ó Gráda and Mark Woolhouse.  The report also goes into detail on new research and discoveries in creating new antibiotics by Nicola Oliver where she states that globally, AMR has the potential to reduce GDP by 3.5% and kill an additional 10 million people by 2050.

In the forward to the report, Dame Sally states,

“We are already seeing the consequences of AMR, with estimates of around 50,000 deaths per year recently in Europe and the US, due to antibiotic resistant infections, and far greater numbers worldwide. The projected figures are much more worrying. It is quite possible – and perhaps even likely – that the recent era of material mortality improvements will give way to many years of material mortality worsening.

“To tackle this problem, we are pursuing a multi-levelled approach in the UK. Action is being taken urgently in a number of areas, from hospital hygiene and animal husbandry to pharma investment and vaccination programs, but to be effective this action needs to be internationally applied.”

Fiona Morrison, President of the IFoA, comments,

“During the past decade, the threat of antimicrobial resistance has become real and its global dimensions have been increasingly recognised. Meanwhile, an equally alarming decline has occurred in the research and development of new antibiotics to deal with the threat. This edition of the Longevity Bulletin considers potential impacts of antimicrobial resistance on society and demonstrates real collaboration between a number of professions.

Nick Salter, Immediate Past President of the IFoA, added,

“Chancellor George Osborne recently stated that the number of people who die each year from antimicrobial resistant infections could soar to 10 million by 2050 – eclipsing the 8.2 million deaths a year caused by cancer.  We hope that this bulletin will add to the debate and the calls from many experts for an international approach to tackling this major threat to the public.”

Download the Longevity Bulletin: Antimicrobial resistance (Issue 8)

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Editorial notes:

About the Longevity Bulletin

The IFoA’s annual Longevity Bulletin was first issued in 2011, and was created as an overview of longevity trends.  The aim of this, the 8th issue, is to improve understanding of antimicrobial resistance and it’s implications on longevity, surgical procedures and economic prosperity.  It also looks at new research and developments in creating new antibiotics to tackle this world wide problem.

About the authors

Victoria Wells is the Science Communications Officer for the BSAC, a UK registered charity, and Antibiotic Action, an independent UK-led global awareness initiative wholly funded by the BSAC.

Laura Piddock is Professor of Microbiology and Deputy Director of the Institute of Microbiology & Infection at the University of Birmingham. She is also the BSAC Chair in Public Engagement, and in that capacity is the Director of the public awareness initiative Antibiotic Action.

Meghan Perry is a clinician scientist specialising in infectious diseases. Her clinical work includes antimicrobial stewardship, infection consult rounds, care for inpatients and outpatients with HIV, hepatitis, tuberculosis, community-acquired, hospital-acquired and imported infections. Since she completed a PhD on drug resistance in leishmaniasis her ongoing research work with Professor Mark Woolhouse at the University of Edinburgh focuses on AMR.

Mark Woolhouse is a Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh. For his contribution to infectious disease control he was awarded an OBE (2002) and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (2004) and the Academy of Medical Sciences (2010). He has advised the UK and US governments on emerging infections.

Matthew Edwards is the Head of Mortality and Longevity in Willis Towers Watson’s life insurance practice. He is a member of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries and has a particular interest in disease-based modelling, longer-term driver-based models of longevity, and using the views of medical experts to enhance our understanding of likely mortality trends.

Cormac Ó Gráda is Emeritus Professor of Economics at University College Dublin. He has published widely on many aspects of Irish, US, and Jewish economic history. He has served on the editorial board of several professional journals, and is formerly co-editor of the European Review of Economic History.

Nicola Oliver is Director and Head of Longevity and Mortality at Medical Intelligence (UK) Ltd, and is responsible for furthering clients understanding of factors driving longevity and mortality risk. She has extensive experience of working within the UK National Health Service in hospital intensive care and in public health. She is a member of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries, The Royal Society of Medicine and the Royal College of Nursing.

Matthew Dryden is a Clinical Director of Infection at the Hampshire Hospitals Trust in Winchester, UK and at the Rare and Imported Pathogens Department, Public Health England. He is also an honorary senior lecturer at Southampton University Medical School and visiting professor at Department of Medicine, St George’s University School of Medicine in Grenada, West Indies. He is a consultant to the Falkland Islands and St Helena Governments Health Services.

About the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries

The Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) is a royal chartered, not-for-profit, professional body.

Research undertaken by the IFoA is not commercial.  As a learned society, research helps us to fulfil our royal charter requirements to further actuarial science and serve the public interest. 

Actuaries provide commercial, financial and prudential advice on the management of a business’s assets and liabilities, especially where long term management and planning are critical to the success of any business venture. They also advise individuals, and advise on social and public interest issues.

Members of the IFoA have a statutory role in the supervision of pension funds and life insurance companies. They also have a statutory role to provide actuarial opinions for managing agents at Lloyd’s.

Members are governed by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries. A rigorous examination system is supported by a programme of continuing professional development and a professional code of conduct supports high standards reflecting the significant role of actuaries in society.

The IFoA is available to provide independent expert comment to the media on a range of actuarial- related issues, including enterprise risk management, finance and investment, general insurance, health and care, life assurance, mortality, and pensions.