Antibiotic-resistant superbugs pose "catastrophic" risk Addressing the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland, Dame Sally is expected to say: "We in the UK are taking this issue extremely seriously and will be publishing a five-year, cross-government strategy in the summer. Jeremy Hunt, the Health Secretary, warned that there are "few" public health issues of greater importance. "We need stronger international partnerships and coalitions so that the threat of is fully recognised and the responsibility for reducing it is shared," he said. The government is preparing to launch a five year plan for tackling antibiotic resistance. Measures will include promoting "responsible prescribing," improving "infection prevention" and developing alternative drugs. The World Health Organisation's director general Dr Margaret Chan, said: "Efforts to stimulate the development of new medical products are critically important for every country in the world. The spread of antimicrobial resistance is rendering more and more first-line treatments useless. Some observers say we are moving back to the per-antibiotic era. With few replacements in the pipeline, medicine is moving towards a post-antibiotic era in which many common infections will once again kill. Health care cannot afford a setback of this magnitude. We must recognise, and respond to, the very serious threat of antimicrobial resistance.