An all-Ireland meeting on superbugs has heard that the infections are a growing global problem, threatening human as well as animal health.
Anti Microbial Resistance (AMR) is now responsible for around 700,000 deaths around the world each year.
With AMR, the microbes are resistant (not patients) to antibiotics, due to overuse.
Dame Sally Davies, the Chief Medical Officer for England, told the conference that the problem must be treated as seriously as climate change.
She said that if AMR is not tackled, by 2050, it is estimated that it will cause more deaths around the world than cancer.
The conference also heard that the overuse of antibiotics on animals is also contributing to the problem.
There is also a need for new antibiotics to be developed.
Substandard and falsified medicines are also having an impact.
The problem of drug resistant hospital infections means many patients cannot be treated with the most common antibiotics.
Sally Davis said the issue was about planetary health.
"There is no single magic bullet to tackle it," she said. "All countries must mitigate AMR & each country has its own challenges."
Prof Martin Cormican, HSE Clinical Lead for AMR & Healthcare Acquired Infections, said that anti microbial resistance was another inconvenient truth.
He said the issue was about protecting people.
Prof Cormican said there were people today who will not make it to Christmas dinner this year, due to AMR.
He said that antibiotics people do not need are also bad for their heart, skin and have an economic cost too.
Like the UK, Ireland has an AMR strategy.
Prof Cormican said that screening in Ireland for some antibiotic resistant microbes, like CPE, had doubled and cases were being found earlier.
Ireland had also declared CPE as a national public health emergency.
The meeting heard that everyone has a role to play to reducing anti microbial resistance and that the battle is to protect antibiotics for future generations.
Today's meeting in the RDS in Dublin was organised by the British Embassy in Dublin.
