In this article, Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle, BSAC-funded intern Katy Stokes, and Aziz Foundation-funded intern Zoheb Ali explore the connection between increases in AMR and practices of deforestation. They also scrutinise weak forest governance and the fraught relationship between deforesting states and private entities, calling for coordinated international action at the highest level to curb the global health and climate crises.

With members in 40 nations, and over 100,000 learners in more than 200 countries, BSAC is a global network of medics, scientists and specialists, working with our members to ensure the availability of effective antimicrobial treatment for future generations. In this short article, we shine the spotlight on one of our members, Dr. Charles Narh, who is based at Deakin University, Australia.

This December, BSAC will be hosting our annual in-person Antibiotic Resistance and Mechanisms (ARM) Workshop for Researchers at The Birmingham Conference & Events Centre, Birmingham, UK. Our 2023 workshop will offer members of the UK community researching mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance the opportunity to meet, to consolidate and extend the expertise held within individual laboratories in the United Kingdom. We caught up with Dr Ronan McCarthy, Senior Lecturer, Brunel University London and co-Chair of the ARM Programme Committee, to explain why ARM is such an important and unique event on the BSAC calendar.

The UK Paediatric Antimicrobial Stewardship (UK-PAS) network was launched in June 2019 to address the unmet need for coordinated paediatric efforts in dealing with antimicrobial resistance and improving antimicrobial use in the UK. In 2023, UK-PAS formally moved under BSAC’s umbrella. In this short article, UK-PAS Chair, Alicia Demirjian, explores her approach for the next stage of the network now that it has moved under BSAC’s umbrella.

A recent report by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has found that a major meat supplier to UK supermarkets is sourcing chickens from farms that use fluoroquinolone antibiotics, drugs which are classified as “critically important for human health” by the World Health Organization (WHO). The report also states that the Polish meat supplier, SuperDrob, was linked to a salmonella outbreak in 2020, which ‘involved bacteria resistant to multiple drugs.’

Despite being the leading source of bacterial bloodstream infections, Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) remain a chronically neglected area of infectious diseases. Leah Herridge is a chronic UTI patient and campaigner for recognising and treating chronic UTIs. In this powerful article, she discusses the life-changing symptoms her infection has caused while laying out her hopes for improved care, treatment and testing for UTIs.

Last year, we invited Julius Cesar Alejandre and Emily Stevenson to work with BSAC and Baroness Natalie Bennett as part of our new Parliamentary Internship Programme. As we head into Spring, Emily updates us on how they’re getting on in Westminster and sets out their priorities for the months ahead.

Sponsored by the World Health Organisation, World Health Day is an annual opportunity to draw worldwide attention to a subject of major importance to global health. To celebrate this year’s event, Julius Cesar Alejandre, a member of BSAC’s new Parliamentary Internship Programme, highlights initiatives around the UK that are working to reduce pharmaceutical pollution and a more sustainable, fairer, and stronger healthcare future for all.