# 5473
Today is World Health Day and the focus this year is on the building threat of antimicrobial resistance. Marc Sprenger, Director of the ECDC, provides us today with his ‘Situation update on antibiotic resistance’.
You can read some brief highlights to his speech, given today to Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) at this link.
Director Sprenger emphasized three areas for action.
- Development of new classes of antibiotics
- Better hygiene in hospitals and clinics
- And the prudent use of antibiotics
You can view the 9-slide presentation by clicking the image below:
As Director Sprenger warns, doctors are running out of ammunition to combat bacterial infections. Drugs that worked yesterday are rapidly losing their effectiveness against today’s rapidly evolving bacteria.
He sums the situation up this way:
“Europe, and indeed the world, desperately needs new antibiotics. If we do not act today, then tomorrow the nightmare becomes reality.
We will see increasing numbers of patients with untreatable infections.”
