By Emily Mullin
Publication Date: 2026-04-29 09:00:00
Antibiotic resistance is a rapidly growing public health crisis that causes more than one million deaths worldwide annually and contributes to nearly 5 million additional deaths. These infections are more difficult and expensive to treat than typical infections and result in longer hospital stays, driving up costs for hospitals and patients alike.
Treatment is usually based on assumptions on the part of doctors. Ara Darzi, a surgeon and director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London, says AI-powered diagnostics offer a better way.
“Right now, in 2026, we are at the first real tipping point of this crisis,” Darzi said April 16 at WIRED Health in London.
The overuse and misuse of antibiotics and the lack of development of new drugs have driven the emergence of resistant microbes. When bacteria are exposed to levels of antibiotics that don’t kill them immediately, they develop defense mechanisms to survive. Unnecessary recipes enable…
