01 Jan 2013 – Chief Medical Officer Dame Sally Davies says that antibiotic-resistant diseases pose “Apocalyptic” threat and tells MPs that the issue should be added to the UK Government’s national risk register of civil emergencies

Dame Sally Davies, the Chief Medical Officer for England has warned British MPs that the threat posed by antibiotic-resistant diseases pose an “Apocalyptic” threat and could trigger a national emergency on a scale comparable to a catastrophic terrorist attack, major coastal flooding or a pandemic flu outbreak. Dame Sally was appearing in front of the UK House of Commons Science and Technology committee and said that antimicrobial resistance has been put on the Department of Health’s risk register and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ risk register and would call for the Government to also put antimicrobial resistance on the Government’s risk register.