In focus
The concept of infection prevention and control – that involves implementing a variety of protocols to prevent avoidable infections in hospital settings – has become an essential part of all modern healthcare. In the context of antimicrobial resistance also, infection prevention and control plays a central role by helping lower burden of health care-associated infections, thereby reducing the need to use antibiotics.
ReAct is an independent network dedicated to the problem of antibiotic resistance. ReAct is a global catalyst, advocating and stimulating for global engagement on antibiotic resistance through a broad range of collaborations.
Policy
21 June ReAct and South Centre hosted the webinar: The silent pandemic of antimicrobial resistance: New opportunities for global action?
Will the new international instrument offer opportunities for a stronger response to antimicrobial resistance?
What are we learning from national experiences from developing countries?
Link to recorded webinar will be added.
News
June 1, ReAct in collaboration with The Nordic Council of Ministers and Stockholm Environmental Institute hosted the hybrid event “The silent antimicrobial resistance pandemic urges a concerted global response – but what needs to be done?”. Here you find 5 takeaways from the day and a few next steps. You can also watch a recording of the event.
Interview
Beginning this year, Tehseen Contractor and four Global Health students focused a project on antibiotic resistance and artificial intelligence. ReAct got curious and wanted to hear a young Medical student’s thoughts on antibiotic resistance in general, and artificial intelligence and antibiotic resistance in particular. Tehseen is from India and is studying Medicine and Surgery in the UK.
Policy
In 2015 recognizing the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance the World Health Organization endorsed a Global Action Plan on AMR.
The five objectives that the Global Action Plan aimed for were:
How far along are we?
In focus
In general, administering stitches to close tears on mothers who have newly delivered a child are a safe and common procedure. However, the handling of post-delivery sutures by health workers without sufficient understanding about the use of antibiotics and the risk of infection can be a different story. What are supposed to be happy moments for parents with their new born baby, after going through the delivery process, might sadly end in grief.
This was experienced by Dr Hari Paraton, an obstetrician and gynecologist from Surabaya, Indonesia, who handled a patient, (we will call her “Paramita”) with abnormal post-delivery stitches. Instead of drying out, the wound on the stitches just got worse and wider.
Policy
Causing 1.27 million deaths per year, antibiotic resistance is one of the greatest and most urgent cross-border public health threats of our time. However, the global community was late to the table to pick up on the systems failure of antibiotic resistance. Initiatives and collaborations have been initiated since 2015, but stronger globally coordinated governance is needed to drive systemwide response. There is still a long way to go. In this article, you get an overview of the global governance considerations for antibiotic resistance.
Research and development
Effective antibiotics are a cornerstone of basic and specialized medicine. The emergence of resistance in bacteria to antibiotics is slowly dismantling our ability to treat infections, alleviate human suffering, and save lives. The COVID-19 pandemic is a clear reminder of the deadly consequences the world faces, when we do not have the right treatments or vaccines available when needed.
Theme
ReAct articles relating to COVID-19 and antibiotic resistance.
The ReAct Toolbox is a user-friendly web-based resource that provides inspiration and guidance to take action and develop national action plans on antibiotic resistance. It is built on what has been done in the past in a variety of settings, and is aligned with ongoing and current initiatives from across the globe.
In the last 70 years the use of antibiotics has been crucial in improving countless lives and drastically reducing deaths caused by bacterial infections. The increasing development of antibiotic resistance is posing a serious threat to human health and development, the environment and for animal health. Learn more about ReAct’s work on antibiotic resistance here.
ReAct is a global network of antibiotic resistance experts with nodes in Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America.
Involved in developing and implementing your country's National Action Plan on AMR? Here you find support tools and inspiration.
Engagement from civil society organizations and communities is needed to tackle antibiotic resistance. Learn more about how to get involved.
Globally coordinated governance on antimicrobial resistance - to ensures a sustainable response that takes into account the conditions for LMICs
A public health driven and end-to-end approach to innovation that enables sustainable access to effective antibiotics in LMICs