ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — The United Nations General Assembly met this morning to talk about combatting antimicrobial resistance, which happens when germs like bacteria and fungi become resistant to antibiotics. They say this will be the leading cause of death by 2050. Mia Mottley, the Prime Minister of Barbados, says antimicrobial resistance, also called AMR, is the leading cause of death globally. AMR happens when germs develop the ability to overpower the drugs designed to kill them — like antibiotics.   "Therefore, this is a press conference not for us with gray hair so much, but for the young people in the world because they are the ones who will have to face the possible threat of a reversal of medical progress," said Mottley. "We sometimes end up with a patient that has an infection that isn't treatable because we don't have an antibiotic that will kill the organism," said URMC Infectious Disease Physician Ghinwa Dumyati. She explains that one of the things medical professionals are doing to counter this issue is incentivizing drug companies to develop new antibiotics. The other solution? Vaccines. "People don't think about it, but if you have no infection then you have less likely the need to be on antibiotic, less likely to use antibiotic, and less likely to develop resistance," said Dumyati. Dumyati says it's important to know when to take antibiotics. For example, you don't need it for a viral infection. But when you are prescribed antibiotics, make sure to take your medication exactly as instructed. "What we need now is for leaders to speed up what they have begun. Speed up awareness, speed up effective prevention, speed up the management of AMR at the national level, at the regional level, and at the global level." This is the second meeting the U-N held a High-level Meeting on AMR. The last was in 2016. New research published in the journal The Lancet found that 169 million deaths would be associated with AMR between now and 2050.