NEW DELHI: The British government has announced £210 million funding to partner with countries across Asia and Africa to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and the threat it poses, especially in the UK.
This announcement has come ahead of the G20 Health Ministers’ meeting in Gandhinagar on Friday, which will be attended by British Secretary for State and Social Care, Steve Barclay.
AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites mutate over time and no longer respond to medicines, making infections harder to treat and increase the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death.
As a result of drug resistance, antibiotics and other antimicrobial medicines become ineffective and infections become increasingly difficult or impossible to treat.
“Antimicrobial resistance is a silent killer, which poses a significant threat to people’s health around the world and in the UK. It will be an important topic here at the G20 in India. It is vital that it is stopped in its tracks and this record funding will allow countries most at risk to tackle it and prevent it from taking more lives across the world, ultimately making us safer at home,’’ said Barclay, adding that it also builds on the work the government is doing to incentivise drug companies to develop new antibiotics — a model that some G20 countries are looking to implement.
Statistics reveal that nearly 1.27 million people around the world die each year due to AMR where one in five of those deaths are in children under five years of age. In 2019, AMR was found to have caused between 7,000 and 35,000 deaths in the UK alone.
The British government’s £210 million funding will include setting up of laboratories, disease surveillance systems and a bigger global workforce.
The investment will deliver the second phase of the UK-India Fleming Fund partnership alongside India’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Worth up to £3 million, it will accelerate collaboration on AMR surveillance across One Health sectors and help both countries to deliver on their 2030 roadmap.
The investment will also strengthen the global health workforce by supporting 20,000 training sessions for laboratory staff, pharmacists and hospital staff, and over 200 Fleming Fund scholarships to boost expertise in microbiology, AMR policy and One Health.
WHO DG lauds India’s approach on ending TB
The World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Thursday commended India for its innovative approach, multi-sector partnership efforts, and funding for ending TB and said it has inspired other countries.
He spoke at the Ministerial meeting - Sustain, Accelerate and Innovate to End TB in the South-East Asia Region in Gujarat’s Gandhinagar.
He stressed that global health crises such as the pandemic have reversed the progress gained in many countries, and eliminating TB by 2030 is achievable.