Antimicrobial Resistance - Novel coalition sets out to tackle the next global health crisis

A diverse range of sectors and industries come together in partnership to address infection management, advocating a whole system approach

In a bid to tackle this 'hidden pandemic', the Infection Management Coalition (IMC) has launched their whitepaper outlining a call for transformational change in the way infection is detected, monitored, prevented, and managed across the NHS, healthcare systems and broader society, by adopting a whole system approach.

The coalition, which comprises partners spanning pharmaceuticals, MedTech and diagnostics, originally came together in January last year to to drive change in support of holistic management and pandemic preparedness in response to the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on societies and economies globally.

“Antimicrobial resistance is a growing challenge and an existential threat that we must overcome,” commented Dr David Jenkins, President of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy.

The whitepaper, which offers a blueprint for further collaboration, calls for the creation of a "resilient" and "mature" healthcare system with a focus on outbreak and pandemic preparedness, infection prevention, rapid treatment of time-critical viral and bacterial infection, enabling it to ultimately deliver effective antimicrobial stewardship.

Specifically, it includes "tangible recommendations" which break down the siloes within the sector, and identifies owners, timelines, and required actions.

As a next step, the IMC is calling for the development of a cohesive policy to support action, warning that a lack of measures now could result in a pandemic that will have a far greater impact than that seen with COVID-19.

The full report is available to view here.