Cameron: World could return to medical "dark ages"

INTRO: The British Prime Minister David Cameron has warned the world could soon be "cast back into the dark ages of medicine" if new antibiotics are not developed…

Mr Cameron has started a review into why so few antibiotic drugs have been introduced in recent years - despite the increase in resistance to them.

The US President Barack Obama is among world leaders who have backed the review – our UK correspondent Dan Whitehead joins us from outside the British Department of Health with more…

IN: David Cameron...
OUT: DW, London.
DUR: 1'54"

http://www.fsnradionews.com/feeds/0702antibiotics-ldn-dw.mp3
SCRIPT:

VO 1: The Prime Minister has issued a stark warning on this issue - saying that if the world fails to act to tackle growing resistance to antibiotics, the population could be looking at an "unthinkable scenario" where treatable infections and injuries will kill once again.

He has now set up a panel, made up of experts from science, finance, industry and global health, to review the problem.

Mr Cameron hopes it will set out plans for encouraging the development of new antibiotics.

This review focuses on 3 key issues:

- the increase in drug-resistant strains of bacteria
- the "market failure" which has seen no new classes of antibiotics for more than 25 years
- and the over-use of antibiotics globally.

It is estimated that drug-resistant strains of bacteria are responsible for killing one child under 5 every 5 minutes in south east Asia.

In Europe, 25-thousand deaths occur because antibiotics don't work.

The UK's Chief Medical Officer for England Professor Dame Sally Davies says action must be taken now…

CUT 1: Chief Medical Officer for England Prof Dame Sally Davies: "It's an arms race, we're losing it and when we've lost it we will lose modern medicine as we know it. Cancer treatment makes people's immune system weak, they get infections, they won't live if the antibiotics won't work."

VO 2: David Cameron has already garnered substation support from world leaders, at a recent gathering of G7 leaders at a summit in Brussels the US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged specific support to the cause at a G7 leaders meeting in Brussels last month.

David Cameron will be hoping this issue is high on the agenda at next year's G7 summit which is being hosted in Germany.

Dan Whitehead, Channel News Asia, London.

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