With the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring AMR one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity, it’s great to see the UK investing in the global health agenda. In addition to the focus on developing new drugs and diagnostics – both of which are vitally important – BSAC would additionally like to see a spotlight on surveillance, such as our innovative collaboration with the University of Aberdeen Epidemiology Group to develop the first UK Antimicrobial Registry (UKAR), which aims to capture real-world usage of antimicrobial agents.

Education and accreditation, such as through GAMSAS, our new global accreditation scheme which aims to drive up healthcare standards around the world, also has an important role to play in the ongoing challenge to contain and control the burden of antimicrobial resistance, as programme Manager Dr Jacqueline Sneddon, explains:

“Our approach aims to support healthcare organisations throughout the world by recognising their current good practice, identifying areas for improvement and supporting education and training to help them make substantial progress, regardless of current levels of resources… I look forward to hospitals around the world joining GAMSAS so we can work together to keep antibiotics working and save patient lives.”