Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is the ability of a microorganism (like bacteria, viruses, and some parasites) to stop an antimicrobial (such as antibiotics, antivirals and antimalarials) from working against it. As a result, standard treatments become ineffective, infections persist and may spread to others. “A lack of effective antibiotics is as serious a security threat as a sudden and deadly disease outbreak,” says Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO. Global health officials are grappling with a “serious lack” of new antibiotics to fight the proliferation of SUPERBUGS. At present, there are a reported 50 new antibiotics in development to treat superbugs- but only a few are classified as treatments that will add value to the drugs that are currently being used. In the meantime, some pathogens that cause common infections like pneumonia or urinary tract infections are growing into resistant bugs that don’t respond to any antibiotics. The drugs currently in use are being dubbed as “only short-term solutions”. Antimicrobial resistance is a global health emergency that will seriously jeopardize progress in modern medicine. There is an urgent need for more investment in research and development for antibiotic-resistant infections including TB, otherwise we will be forced back to a time when people feared common infections and risked their lives for minor surgery. This is a third time in recent months that the WHO has put out a stern warning about superbugs and antibiotics. The world is on the cusp of a “post-antibiotic” era, pointing to a dozen bacteria that are growing resistant to all medications currently available.