A package of up to £85 million to support the international community in tackling the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance has been announced by the UK Government.
World leaders and experts, including the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the World Bank attended a global event hosted by the Royal Society to agree priority actions to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and hear accounts from AMR survivors.
The UK Government has announced the following initiatives:
- Up to £50 million to partner with countries in Africa for improving access to essential antimicrobial drugs. It builds on ongoing work by the UK Global AMR Innovation Fund. This will be done in partnerships with low- and middle-income countries and build on local expertise.
- Up to £25 million which will include partnering with countries and territories in the Caribbean to strengthen surveillance systems for AMR to enable accurate monitoring of threats, through regional partners such as the Caribbean Public Health Agency and the Pan American Health Organisation. Building on the UK’s existing investment in the Fleming Centre in London, this new funding will also allow the government to explore how it might support the delivery of AMR centres globally in alignment with the Fleming Initiative.
- Up to £10 million over the next five years to help establish a Global Independent Scientific Panel for AMR, modelled on the success of other international panels such as the world-renowned International Panel on Climate Change. This is in partnership with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which has agreed to match this funding.
In addition to these new programmes, £1.8 million has already been to create a dedicated team in the Medical Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (MHRA) to support creating novel antimicrobials and diagnostics. The team will enable the UK to develop an in-depth knowledge of new technologies and build a joint understanding of antimicrobial resistance across global regulators, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
These new projects build on ongoing international and domestic work to prevent the spread of antimicrobial resistance. This includes the recently announced National Action Plan and a partnership with countries across Asia and Africa to tackle AMR and reduce the threat posed to the UK, through the Fleming Fund backed by £210 million.
The event - The World Together Solving the Antibiotic Emergency – was organised by the government in partnership with The Royal Society. It celebrated the successes of global action to tackle AMR and looked ahead to commitments for what more the world can do collaboratively in the fight against AMR, ahead of the important milestone of the United Nations High-Level Meeting on AMR in September.
UK Special Envoy on AMR, Dame Sally Davies, commented: “The global antibiotic emergency is an existential threat to communities everywhere. As the UK Special Envoy on Antimicrobial Resistance, I am honoured to host today’s event alongside the UK government and the Royal Society. This event represents a pivotal milestone for the world to move forward together and play a part in safeguarding our antibiotics for generations to come. I call on everyone to join us to make equity, One Health and action the cornerstone of our next steps to tackle AMR.”