www.amr-review.org https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/global-antibiotic-consumption-soars-feeding-spread-uk-super/ https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-5-year-action-plan-for-antimicrobial-resistance-2019-to-2024
Resistance isn’t futile
Paul Jakeway, Marketing Director at SC Johnson Professional, believes that there needs to be more focus on promoting the importance of hand hygiene as the first step in preventing antimicrobial resistance.
Predicted to kill 10 million people every year by 2050 without action, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and the rise of ‘super bugs’ are considered the biggest threats to modern healthcare.
The current threat of AMR
AMR is now seen as one of the most serious global threats to human health in the 21st century, with Britain already seeing a rise of antibiotic resistant illnesses, which currently kill around 5,000 people a year in the UK.
AMR occurs when microbes, such as bacteria and viruses, no longer respond to the drugs designed to kill them. As a result, treatments may fail, infections persist and may spread to others.
The misuse of antibiotics is putting healthcare environments at risk. Without effective antibiotics, surgery, emergency operations and chemotherapy will be less safe and even minor infections could prove fatal. Ultimately, this is only going to increase the cost of healthcare due to delayed treatments and lengthier stays in hospitals.
Therefore, it is important that we reduce the risk of bacteria developing resistance in several ways, such as only using
44 | HEALTHCARE HYGIENE
antibiotics when they are needed the most, and preventing infection in the first instance.
The Government’s vision
The new AMR strategy – Tackling AMR 2019-2024, the UK’s five-year national plan (published 24 January 2019) – outlines the Government’s vision to tackle AMR by 2040 and the key actions that Trusts and healthcare facilities need to take.
Some of the objectives brought to light by the Government include: cutting the number of drug-resistant infections by 10% by 2025, reducing the use of antibiotics in humans by 15%, and preventing at least 15,000 patients from contracting infections as a result of their healthcare each year by 2024.
The strategy highlights that ‘the plan is to make sure current antibiotics stay effective by reducing the number of resistant infections and supporting clinicians to prescribe appropriately’. If the healthcare industry is to tackle AMR, there needs to be a clear focus on promoting infection prevention and more specifically, the role of hand hygiene.
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