Superbugs resistant to drugs pose a serious worldwide threat and demand a response on the same scale as efforts to combat climate change, specialists on infectious diseases said on Thursday.

Warning that a world without effective antibiotics would be "deadly," with routine surgery, organ transplants and treatments for cancer and diabetes becoming impossible, the experts said the international response has been far too weak.

"We have needed to take action against the development of antimicrobial resistance for more than 20 years. Despite repeated warnings, the international response has been feeble," said Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust medical charity.