PM warns of antibiotic time bomb

David Cameron has called for global action to tackle the growing threat of resistance to antibiotics.

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Cameron said: "If we fail to act, we are looking at an almost unthinkable scenario where antibiotics no longer work and we are cast back into the dark ages of medicine where treatable infections and injuries will kill once again."

Growing numbers of infections are resistant to antibiotics but no new classes of anti-microbial drugs have come onto the market for more than 25 years.

The prime minister also announced a review of the market and said it would be led by economist Jim O'Neill.

The panel will include experts from science, finance, industry, and global health.

It will set out plans for encouraging the development of new antibiotics.

Mr O'Neill is a high-profile economist who is best-known for coining the terms Bric and Mint - acronyms to describe countries which are emerging and potential powerhouses of the world economy.

He is not, though an expert on antibiotics or microbes. But Mr Cameron told the BBC it was important to have an economist heading the review:

"There is a market failure; the pharmaceutical industry hasn't been developing new classes of antibiotics, so we need to create incentives," he said.