HEALTH boffins will today launch a £32 million blitz on killer superbugs.
They launch a massive research project to find new ways of treating infections which are resistant to antibiotics.
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Chief Medical Officer Dame Sally Davies will be appointed global expert to tackle the growing threat to humanity.
The rise of the superbug raises the chilling prospect of a world where routine surgery becomes risky and a simple graze could be potentially life-threatening.
But the government will step up the fight against antimicrobial resistance with a UK-led research project and a new role for Dame Sally to deliver a joined-up worldwide response.
BUGS GETTING STRONGER
Ten leading research centres across Britain will pump the cash into a five-year action plan to explore new ways to prescribe medicines and identify patterns of resistance.
Public health minister Seema Kennedy said: “Antibiotic resistance poses an enormous risk to our NHS. We are already seeing the harmful effect resistant bugs can have on patient safety in our hospitals.
“It is vital that we retain the irreplaceable expertise of Professions Dame Sally Davies, an international expert in AMR, and continue to invest in research.”
Some of the funding will be used to support a new centre to link health outcomes with prescribing records, helping medics to decide when to use antibiotics and cut out unnecessary use.
CASH FOR CATCH
It will also pay for the first fully functional model ward to help devise new facilities to improve infection control and cut the risk of infections spreading.
Antibiotic resistance poses an enormous risk to our NHS. We are already seeing the harmful effect resistant bugs can have on patient safety in our hospitals
Public health minister Seema Kennedy
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Research units getting a slice of the cash include Manchester University, who will receive £4.4 million to test ways of preserving antibiotics for when they are most effective, and Liverpool University, which is earmarked for £3.5 million to apply genome sequencing to enable a more personalised antibiotic prescribing.
Dr Susan Hopkins, of Public Health England, said: “Innovation is critical. This investment will make it possible to create the most sophisticated data set, enhancing our ability to monitor AMR.
“By increasing our laboratory capacity to study novel agents and the healthcare environment, we’ll be able to take bold steps to preserve antibiotics for when we really need them and improve care and outcomes for patients.”
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