Superbug cost on global economy may hit US$100t over 35 years

London

DRUG-RESISTANT superbugs could cost the global economy as much as US$100 trillion between now and 2050, a threat that warrants as much attention as climate change, according to a review led by economist Jim O'Neill.

If unchecked, the infections may mean 10 million extra deaths a year, with an impact on global wealth roughly equivalent to losing the UK's economic output every year, Mr O'Neill, a former Goldman Sachs Group economist, told reporters in London on Wednesday.