HEALTH INTEL: Antibiotic Resistance as Economic Threat The WHO estimates antibiotic-resistant infections cause 1.27 million deaths annually and will reach 10 million deaths per year by 2050 if current trends continue—surpassing cancer mortality. Since penicillin's discovery in 1928, overuse in agriculture (70% of antibiotics sold globally) and incomplete treatment courses have accelerated resistance evolution; bacteria that survived standard doses reproduced, creating superbugs like MRSA and carbapenem-resistant organisms. The World Bank projects antibiotic resistance could cost global GDP $100 trillion by 2050 through medical costs and productivity loss—comparable to recurring pandemics. This matters because modern surgery, chemotherapy, and childbirth all depend on functional antibiotics as safety nets; without them, routine procedures revert to pre-1950s mortality levels.