Care with learning

Antibiotics have saved millions of lives, but we have taken them for granted. We need concerted action to prevent our world from going back to the pre-antibiotic era.

2008-12-10 Another Newsletter from ReAct

In ReAct Quarterly no 3-4/2008:
Reflexions on the Challenge of Antibiotic Resistance by Otto Cars. A short briefing about the stakeholder process in South East Asia by local coordinator Bruce Ravesloot and a report from the ReAct Latin American meeting in Ecuador in June 2008.

Download the newsletter here (pdf 114 KB)

2008-12-04 MRSA outbreak in neonatal departments in Denmark

Three major hospitals, Glostrup, Hillerød and Hvidovre have had major outbreaks of MRSA in their neonatal departments within the last six months, reports the Statens Serum Institut (SSI) in Denmark. The outbreak in Glostrup hospital involved as many as 32 children. In two of the hospitals the neonatal departments had to be closed for a while.

Read more on the SSI website>

2008-09-19 Meeting the challenge of antibiotic resistance

Expert warning on global pandemic

Modern medicine could be seriously threatened if Antibiotic Resistance is not tackled urgently, warn experts in an article on bmj.com today. Existing antibiotics are losing their effect at an alarming pace and can no longer be considered as a renewable source.

Reducing consumer demand of antibiotics could be the strongest force to driving change, but the ultimate responsibiltiy for coordination and resources to tackle this global problem rests with national governments, WHO and other international stakeholders.

In addition we need stronger incentives for developing antibacterials with new mechanisms of action. The use of these new antibiotics must be safeguarded by regulations and practices that ensure rational use”, says authors Otto Cars and collegues from ReAct – Action on Antibiotic Resistance in the article.

Read the full article: "Analysis - Meeting the challenge of antibiotic resistance" on bmj.com

2008-06-04 Welcome to the latest Newsletter from ReAct

We have compiled a report from our activities at the WHA in May together with a short briefing on an upcoming ReAct publication and the International Seminar and Workshop in Ecuador, June 9 - 13.

Please click here to read the full Newsletter (pdf 105 KB)

2008-04-01 A New subtopic on Antibiotic Resistance launched on SciDevNet

With the support of ReAct, a new subtopic on Antibiotic Resistance was launched on the 26th of March on the SciDevNet website. The antibiotic resistance subtopic includes feature articles, opinion pieces, and briefs on policy solutions to resistance, all with an emphasis in the developing world.

ReAct believes:

that antibiotics should be used appropriately, their use reduced when of no benefit and their correct and specific use increased when needed;
that hospital and community infectious diseases should be prevented through improved infection control and better hygiene and nutrition;
that awareness is needed of the ecological balance in all aspects of human life as part of a comprehensive and integral concept of health;
that the root causes of antibiotic resistance, as well as effective responses, are social, political and ecological as much as scientific and technical.

Download our Mission, Vision, Values and Strategies here, (pdf 40kb)

Page changed: 2007-12-26