THE world is facing an ‘antibiotics apocalypse’ which could kill millions.

The warning was made by England’s chief medical officer, Prof Dame Sally Davies (pictured), who said resistance to the drugs could stop Caesarean sections, hip replacements and cancer treatment. ‘We risk the end of modern medicine,’ she said.

It is estimated that the number who die every year globally due to drug-resistant infections could rise from 700,000 to 10million by 2050.

The problem has been blamed on resistant ‘superbugs’, over-use of antibiotics and feeding them to farm animals.

She said in the UK up to one in four prescriptions were not needed. ‘But other countries use vastly more antibiotics… and they need to start doing as we are, which is reducing usage.’

The UK government, the Wellcome Trust and other organisations are this week demanding action at a meeting of health chiefs from around the globe in Berlin.

Nick Dearden, of campaign group Global Justice Now, told Metro: ‘Big drug companies don’t feel there’s enough profit to be made from researching antibiotics — so we haven’t discovered any new ones in decades.

‘Then, we feed too many healthy animals with antibiotics so we can keep them in unhealthy conditions.’