A UK report has warned of at least 10 million deaths a year by 2050 as a result of infections resistant to traditional antibiotic drugs, which would mark the advent of “dark ages” of deadly pandemics.

The report, commissioned by the British government and released on Thursday, said major steps should be taken to battle the emergence of “superbugs.”

Those superbugs grow as infections become resistant to existing and traditional drugs, allowing minor injuries and common ailments to become deadly.

“It needs to be seen as the economic and security threat that it is, and be at the forefront of the minds of heads of state,” said Jim O’Neill, the writer of the report.

The 84-page report said the overuse of antibiotics should be reduced and diagnoses be improved to stop unnecessary prescriptions. It also called for a global public awareness campaign on the issue.

“If we don’t solve the problem, we are heading to the dark ages, we will have a lot of people dying,” it said.

O’Neill suggests that drug companies should be rewarded $1 billion if they develop new antimicrobial drugs, but fined if they do not try.

“We need new drugs to replace the ones that are not working anymore because of resistance,” he said.

“We have not seen a truly new class of antibiotics for decades. It is in policymakers’ hands to change this.”

British Health Minister Jane Ellison described the report as “a wake-up call for the world,” adding the British government will be responding in detail to the recommendations.

The World Health Organization has already expressed concern over antimicrobial resistance, which may result in “a return to the pre-antibiotic era,” when millions of people perished in pandemics before drugs were discovered that could treat them.