They could wipe 20 years off average life expectancy. And possibly return modern medicine to a pre-antibiotic era. We’re talking about superbugs, those organisms that have evolved to become resistant to modern medicine. They can cripple us. Or kill us.

Right now, millions of people around the world are battling one. The United Nations estimates that by 2050, 10 million people will die every year from superbugs.

Today, senior reporter Henrietta Cook on the rise of superbugs, or what one expert calls “the biggest public health threats of our age”.

They could wipe 20 years off average life expectancy. And possibly return modern medicine to a pre-antibiotic era. We’re talking about superbugs, those organisms that have evolved to become resistant to modern medicine. They can cripple us. Or kill us.
Right now, millions of people around the world are battling one. The United Nations estimates that by 2050, 10 million people will die every year from superbugs. Today, senior reporter Henrietta Cook on the rise of superbugs, or what one expert calls “the biggest public health threats of our age”.

The Morning Edition (formerly Please Explain) brings you the story behind the story with the best journalists in Australia. Join host Samantha Selinger-Morris from the newsrooms of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, weekdays from 5am.

The Morning Edition (formerly Please Explain) brings you the story behind the story with the best journalists in Australia. Join host Samantha Selinger-Morris from the newsrooms of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, weekdays from 5am.

The Morning Edition

The Morning Edition brings you the story behind the story with the best journalists in Australia. Join host Samantha Selinger-Morris from the newsrooms of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, weekdays from 5am.

The Morning Edition brings you the story behind the story with the best journalists in Australia. Join host Samantha Selinger-Morris from the newsrooms of The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, weekdays from 5am.

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