Dame Sally Davies: '˜Superbugs could make cancer untreatable'

Drug-resistant superbugs could make cancer treatment ineffective, UK's most senior doctor warned.

Professor Dame Sally Davies Chief Medical Officer

Professor Dame Sally Davies, who is the UK Government’s chief medical officer, said bacterial-resistant infections could stop chemotherapy from working and make even simple operations “very risk”.

She also said antimicrobial resistance has the potential to “undermine more than a century of modern medicine”.

The over-prescription of antibiotics has been blamed for the rise in superbugs, which are estimated to kill 10million people a year globally by 2050.

Dame Sally said GPs were “making great strides in cutting antibiotic prescriptions”.

She urged Brits to play their part by taking antibiotics responsibly and washing their hands to prevent the spread of infections.