Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance needs to be firmly established
as a ‘top five policy priority’ for the Government in order to
help prevent the virtual loss of worldwide modern medicine. So
says the Health and Social Care Committee in a report, published
today.
Product development and investment
No new classes of antibiotics have been developed for
decades. Investment in basic scientific
research is essential but so too is the investment by
pharmaceutical companies in further development and bringing
products to the market. New antibiotics initially are only
prescribed very sparingly rather than as a first line treatment
during their patent lives, thereby reducing their profitability
compared with other meds. Options to address this market failure
include changes to patent law and changes to the ways that
pharmaceutical companies are reimbursed for new antimicrobial
medicines.
Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee, MP, says “In six
months we want to see tangible progress on implementing practical
policies to reverse the worrying exodus from AMR research and
development and both government and industry should play their
part in tackling this issue.”
Prescription rates
The report notes that UK prescribing levels are still
approximately double that of the Netherlands, Sweden and the
Baltic States. There must be a rapid review and withdrawal of
clinically unnecessary secondary care prescribing is
needed.
Coordinated IT
Digital health tools for clinicians and policymakers can
dramatically help to reduce the threat of antimicrobial
resistance. But the variation in the uptake of best practice is
unacceptable. A single organisation should be given
responsibility for co-ordinating clinical decision support
systems across the NHS, and ensuring they prompt evidence based
prescribing of antimicrobials, as well as other medicines.
AMR and agriculture
In terms of Brexit, the Government must make a clear commitment
that any future trade deals will require any meat and dairy
produce imported into the UK to meet at least the same standards
relating to antibiotic use which apply to meat and dairy products
produced in the EU.
The strategy should also include commitments to establish safe
discharge levels for human waste, agricultural waste and
pharmaceutical manufacturing waste, and to introduce systems to
monitor and enforce them.
