Halting the spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the major global health challenges of the 21st century. It is estimated that around 700,000 people die each year from drug resistant diseases, including drug resistant strains of HIV, TB and malaria. If not tackled, AMR could cause up to 10 million deaths annually by 2050, with a cumulative cost to the world of up to US$100 trillion in lost economic output.
In 2013, the UK published a five-year national strategy on AMR. Based on that strategy, the UK has made considerable progress in putting the building blocks for success in place. These efforts include better data, guidance, a strengthened framework for antimicrobial stewardship and establishing unprecedented levels of research collaboration together with increased investment.
As part of this effort, UK Prime Minister David Cameron appointed economist Lord Jim O’Neill to conduct an independent Review on Antimicrobial Resistance to analyse the global problem of AMR and propose concrete actions to tackle it internationally. The full review, which was published last week (19 May), engaged widely with international stakeholders to understand and propose solutions to the problem of AMR from an economic and social perspective. In addition to the final product, the Review has produced thematic papers looking at all aspects of the problems raised by drug resistance including the supply of new drugs, the use of diagnostics, surveillance, infection control, alternative treatments and the use of antibiotics in agriculture.
In conjunction with national level actions on AMR, the UK has recognised that an effective response will require global action, using a “One Health” and multi-sector approach. For this reason, the UK has led on a number of international efforts to provide guidance, expertise and support to the global community via efforts through the G7, G20, the UN General Assembly and through local engagement via the UK Science and Innovation Network.
Outside of these efforts, the UK is investing significantly into helping solve AMR. For example, the Fleming Fund will provide £195 million ($250m) over the next 5 years to support developing countries’ resources to tackle AMR, particularly through improved laboratory and surveillance capacity. This fund is in addition to the £130 million (nearly $200m) that our Department for International Development is providing for a wide range of AMR-related programmes across the developing world. Last but not least, the Longitude Prize is providing £10 million for researchers from all over the world to develop new and novel rapid diagnostics.
For more information about Lord O’Neill’s Review on Antimicrobial Resistance, we invite you to visit http://amr-review.org/
Interested in learning more about the Longitude Prize? Visit https://longitudeprize.org/ and check out our blog post FUNDING: Longitude Prize Discovery Awards for more details about the Discovery Awards funding call.