Global Cause
In this issue
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Developing a strategy to improve antimicrobial prescribing
The Infection Control Team (ICT) led a multidisciplinary approach to antimicrobial stewardship which improved the quality of antimicrobial prescribing used under two different models of care within the hospital. Following the UK five year AMR strategy, the ICT , as the antimicrobial stewardship guardian for the hospital, carried out an extensive audit of antimicrobial prescribing practice. The audit...
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Diagnostic tests are vital in the fight against antimicrobial resistance
The coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic has focussed the world’s attention on the role and importance of diagnostic testing. Diagnostic tests provide essential data to support treatment decisions; 70% of patient information comes from diagnostic tests. Many tests are done in hospital laboratories, but increasingly technological improvements are enabling access to tests outside traditional settings. Diagnostic testing...
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Developing the economic case for AMR
There is currently an inadequate economic case for galvanising AMR financing. Current knowledge should be used to develop models to advocate for urgency of action and investment in AMR. Financing for the global response to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is insufficient. In 2020, only one in five countries reported funding sources for their national action plans on...
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Developing new antibiotics – the next great challenge
For a long time, the world has recognised the threat posed by antimicrobial resistance (AMR) but the pipeline of new antibiotics to tackle it remains too weak. The WHO has recognised AMR as one of the urgent health challenges of the decade1. But, while we have seen progress in tackling this looming catastrophe in some...
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The crucial role of diagnostics to improve antimicrobial stewardship
As one of the top 10 threats to human health, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) should not be underestimated. The World Health Organization estimates that 700,000 people die every year from antimicrobial resistant infections. Antibiotics have only been available to patients since the 1920s, with the discovery of penicillin. If we fail to act soon, the effects...
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Drug stewardship receives a boost from improved diagnostics
Innovations in multiplex PCR diagnostics are poised to help healthcare professionals prescribe more targeted therapies for patients – improving outcomes and combatting antibiotic resistance in the process. Mutating bacteria continue to outwit us, with drug-resistant strains killing more than 700,000 people each year. The United Nations interagency group on antimicrobial resistance believe things will get...
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The demise of antibiotics has been greatly exaggerated
Over the last 10 years, investors and big pharma have abandoned the field of antibiotic development because newly launched products generated poor revenues compared to other fields, such as oncology. Now is the time to re-enter. The first principle of biopharmaceutical investors is to identify a match between innovation and unmet need. However, with about 200...
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There’s new life in tried-and-tested drugs
A vital class of antibiotics is on the verge of being saved thanks to European investment and collaboration. An estimated 500 million daily doses of a class of antibiotics known as aminoglycosides are prescribed globally every year to fight bacterial infections. Their effectiveness is being undermined by antimicrobial resistance. Swiss-based Juvabis are currently progressing a...
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The threat of a bacterial pandemic needs a new business model now
Bacterial infections could become the next pandemic – and we could be helpless because today’s antibiotic development model is broken. “The World Health Organization (WHO) says 12% of current deaths are due to infections, and an estimated nine different bacteria are developing antimicrobial resistance. By 2050, that could mean 10 million deaths annually at a...
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Does nature hold the key to a future free of AMR?
The power of natural viruses in fighting harmful bacteria in humans and animals can finally be harnessed thanks to new technological advances. Phages have been around for billions of years – well before humans first stepped on the earth – and they are everywhere. On each of your hands there are trillions of these microscopic...