Drug-resistant superbugs are as big as a threat as climate change, a new twenty-year plan will be done to tackle the problem. The overuse of antibiotics is making infections harder to treat and leading to thousands of deaths a year through drug-resistant superbugs.
The government plans to change the way it funds drug companies to encourage them to develop new medicines. It is also increasing efforts to cut unnecessary use of drugs. The government’s plan is aiming to control and control drug-resistant bacteria, viruses, parasites and other infections by 2040 and also to reduce the use of antibiotics in humans by 15% over the next five years. It will plan to cut antibiotics use in animals by 25%.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock, who is launching the government’s 20-year vision at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland, said: “Each and every one of us benefits from antibiotics but we all too easily take them for granted and I shudder at the thought of a world in which their power is diminished.
“Antimicrobial resistance is as big a danger to humanity as climate change or warfare. That’s why we need an urgent global response.”
Since 2014, the UK has cut the amount of antibiotics it uses by more than 7% but the number of drug-resistant bloodstream infections increases by 35% from 2013 to 2017. As part of the government’s plan there will be a drive to reduce infections contracted during operations and guidance for clinicians on how to prescribe antibiotics appropriately.
By 2040 the plan aims to:
- be preventing at least 15,000 patients each year from contracting infections as a result of their healthcare
- cut the number of drug-resistant infections by 5,000 (10%)
Drug companies are paid for the amount of antibiotics they sell. The government says this has led to a market failure where companies are to sell existing antibiotics rather than develop new treatments for an infection.
Mike Thompson, chief executive of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, said ”The UK has shown international leadership in raising the profile of this global health threat and today reinforces its commitment to finding solutions to the issues which have hampered the development of new medicines for so long.”
He added that pharmaceutical companies were ready and waiting to start testing the new model to support antibiotic research and development in 2019.
