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In the Balance: When the Drugs Don't Work

When the Drugs Don't Work...

02/05/2015

When the Drugs Don't Work

BBC World Service - In the Balance, When the Drugs Don't Work

What do we do when the the antibiotics we rely on to cure deadly diseases stop working?

What do we do when the the antibiotics we rely on to cure deadly diseases stop working? Can we find drugs to tackle the new, resistant strains of Malaria or TB? And what if can't?

What do we do when the antibiotics we rely on to cure deadly diseases stop working? A growing number of infections like malaria and TB are renewed killers because new strains of the diseases no longer respond to antibiotics. The World Health Organisation this week calls it the single greatest challenge in infectious diseases. We hear from the leading economist Jim O'Neill who is conducting a review of the global strategic challenges resulting from the spread of AMR (anti-microbial resistance). We talk to the WHO about the readiness of countries to face the health crises that may lie ahead. And, we ask the drug companies what they are doing to develop new drugs that might once more fight these lethal diseases.

(Photo: A newborn baby is seen in an incubator in the maternity ward of a hospital. Credit: Qais Usyan/AFP/Getty Images)

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