Antimicrobial resistance
specifics of their patient’s condition. While we don’t want to dwell on the pandemic – it again highlights the importance of collaboration to achieve great things, from the amazing science leading to rapid access to novel vaccines, to the national efforts to deliver the vaccine.
Looking ahead – AMR, the silent pandemic The future of AMR depends on what we do today. In June last year, an NHS England blood culture national review was launched, setting out proposals to improve and standardise the pre- analytical phase of the blood culture pathway. It details the outputs of the AMR diagnostics improvement workstream at NHS England and NHS Improvement (a non-departmental body in England, responsible for overseeing the National Health Service’s Foundation Trusts and NHS Trusts) and examines the required changes to improve existing processes within the blood culture pathway.9 While diagnostics are key, once infection
has taken hold, there is still much work to be done around prevention. Within the NHS, there is clear commitment to deliver the best care for patients, but sometimes more pace and dexterity is needed to drive innovation and improvement. The clock is ticking, and we must up our pace if we want to preserve life-saving antibiotics for future generations. The UK has made incredible progress in the last few years, but like COVID-19, AMR is not a single-nation issue and can only be tackled through international collaboration and with the support of industry. Nishan Sunthares, diagnostics managing
director at Association of British HealthTech Industries (ABHI) agrees, adding: “The HealthTech industry has a significant role to play in supporting national, and global, AMR action plans. Diagnostics, infection prevention, and better surveillance can lead to appropriate use of antibiotics and augment public health initiatives and investments in new antimicrobials and vaccines. The UK has consistently shown strong leadership on this topic, with an outcome from last year’s G7 meeting being a commitment by all members to expedite their implementation of existing AMR strategies.”25 BD is committed to combatting AMR.
The entire private sector has a crucial role to play in building on this momentum, by continuing to invest in the development of high-quality diagnostic systems to screen, test and diagnose infection, and surveillance and reporting capabilities to monitor, track and predict AMR outbreaks. Together, we can
While antibiotic resistant organisms remain a significant public health threat, there are key learnings we can utilise to inform an effective AMR strategy.
improve outcomes for patients and address one of the most critical medical needs in recent times. Prevention comes before control and treatment, and like much of healthcare, pays the biggest return.
CSJ
References 1 World Health Organization. Antimicrobial Resistance. 2021. Available at: https://www.
who.int/news- room/fact-sheets/detail/ antimicrobial-resistance. Last accessed: March 2023.
2 World Health Organization. New report calls for urgent action to avert antimicrobial resistance crisis. World Health Organization. 2019. Available at:
https://www.who.int/news/ item/29-04-2019-new-report-calls-for- urgent- action-to-avert-antimicrobial-resistance- crisis#:~:text=If%20no%20action%20is%20 taken,2008%2D2009%20global%20financial%20 crisis. Last accessed: March 2023..
3 Antonioli P, Bolognesi N, Valpiani G et al. A 2-year point-prevalence surveillance of healthcare-associated infections and
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