Recent estimates suggest that antimicrobial resistance (AMR) causes 1.27 million deaths globally, and 7,600 deaths in the UK, every year. The increasing risk to patients of these so-called superbugs, that are resistant to existing medicines, is the focus of a new consultation launched by the Government on November 23 during World Antimicrobial Awareness Week 2022.
The consultation will bring together the latest evidence and data from leading experts on AMR. It will help inform a new five-year national action plan to protect patients from deadly infections and will capture learnings from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Resistance to antimicrobials is increasing, and affected sectors include food, plants, the environment and health. Without working antibiotics, routine surgery like caesarean sections or hip replacements will become too dangerous to perform, cancer chemotherapy will become too high risk and certain infections will require long and complex treatment or will no longer be treatable.
Commenting on the consultation launch, Prof Dame Sally Davies, UK Special Envoy on AMR, described its threat as “the defining health challenge of this century.”
She added: “I hope that our next national action plan will show that we can learn from the COVID-19 pandemic and collaborate to step up our actions.”
A report published recently by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) showed there were more than 50,000 severe antibiotic-resistant infections in England last year including bloodstream infections, skin infections, surgical site infections and skin and soft tissue infections.
The report also found the number of severe antibiotic resistant infections rose by 2.2.% in England compared to 2020, the equivalent of 148 infections per day. It warns that progress made on antibiotic use may not be sustained unless antibiotics are used appropriately.
There is also a proven link between AMR and disinfectant/hand sanitiser resistant bacteria, which HEFMA’s Pulse magazine explored in the March/April 2022 issue. Read that full article here.
Dr Colin Brown, Deputy Director of Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare Associated Infections at UKHSA, says AMR is not a distant problem that we can ignore. “Our extensive data and surveillance programmes have identified the immense scale of the issue in this country,” he explains. “It has pinpointed areas for action, with targets to improve prescribing and limit antimicrobial-resistant and healthcare-associated infections over the last five years. We will continue to work with partners to respond to current threats and prepare for future challenges.
“It is vital the future national action plan targets include measures to limit resistance, incentivise best practice in prescribing, and facilitate novel diagnostics and therapeutics.”
The new five-year national action plan will form the next stage of the government’s existing 20-year AMR strategy, published in 2019 and which set out an initial five-year plan running until 2024. The consultation will seek views to ensure that the next five-year plan – continuing until 2029 – is informed by the most up-to-date evidence.
Input from technical experts (including on human health, animal and plant health, food and AMR in the environment) is encouraged as part of the consultation, to help shape the UK’s 2024 to 2029 national action plan.
Antimicrobial resistance national action plan – call for evidence
