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Dear Colleague,
This month’s edition of the e-newsletter highlights the critical need for more national, regional and global leadership that specifically targets resistance. Current efforts continue to be primarily disease, country- or program- specific. Some recent developments are encouraging: for example the Swedish Government is using its present position as EU President to draw attention to the drug resistance problem through an expert conference exploring how to incentivize innovation for antibacterials see guest column below. Additionally WHO/AFRO recently passed a resolution on drug resistance related to AIDS, TB and malaria.
But this is not enough. Worldwide, many people continue to lack access to the drugs they need. As pointed out in a recent Guardian article, it is simply absurd that there is no lack of access to Coca Cola in the developing world, but high-quality essential drugs so often are hard to come by. Efforts need to balance increased access to high-quality drug products while encouraging policies that ensure appropriate use and slow resistance emergence and subsequent transmission. Stronger and more coordinated global leadership clearly is required. Unless “something major is done”, as the doctor who sees MDR and XDR TB patients in the Mumbai video solemnly says, the problem is simply “going to get worse, not better”.
As always, we welcome your thoughts at [email protected].
Regards,
Rachel Nugent
Deputy Director for Global Health
Center for Global Development
Monthly Guest Column: It's time to revise the book on infectious diseases
by ReAct: Action on Antibiotic Resistance staff
As the reader may know, many European Union countries are working individually and together in the battle against drug resistance. There is new and welcome interest from several European governments in targeting resistance. Additionally, the European Center for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) promotes regional strategies to slow resistance emergence and transmission, such as the upcoming 2nd annual European Antibiotic Awareness day, on November 18, 2009. The European Medicines Agency (EMEA) contributes to controlling drug resistance, as it is responsible for regular evaluation and supervision of medicines for both human and veterinary use. For its part, the World Health Organization’s 3rd Patient Safety Challenge, while a global, rather than regional, initiative also has antimicrobial drug resistance as its focus. In this process ReAct is an active contributor.
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IN THE NEWS
Bacteria (Besides TB)
TB
Malaria
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Featured VIDEO
- The cruel reality of drug-resistant TB: view powerful examples from Mumbai, India
Drug RESISTANCE WORKING GROUP
- The work of the CGD Drug Resistance Working Group (DRWG) was recently highlighted at two important international meetings of pharmacists. The DRWG presented a symposium on the drivers and policy needs regarding drug resistance at the Commonwealth Pharmacists Association meeting in Accra, Ghana on August 6. Rachel Nugent and three other members of the DRWG participated in the symposium, along with a local representative from the WHO and a local representative of the UK’s Department for International Development. Rachel Nugent also served as part of an expert panel on drug resistance at the World Pharmacy Congress in Istanbul on September 8, where she described the DRWG work and developing recommendations. Other members of the panel who highlighted the critical importance of drug resistance were David Heymann from the WHO, Mohan Joshi from Management Sciences for Health, and Andy Gray from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.
latest research
PARTNER RESOURCES
- New book focuses on resistance: “Rising Plague: The Global Threat from Deadly Bacteria and Our Dwindling Arsenal to Fight Them” by Brad Spellberg learn more, order
- View the recently-launched 2009 FIP Global Pharmacy Workforce Report which analyzes the global pharmacy workforce situation, describes country experiences and provides guidance and recommendations
- Check out e-bug, a new EU resource dedicated to teaching kids about microbes and resistance
- Funding for WHO’s 2nd round of patient safety research grants opened on July 1; the deadline is 30 September - learn more
- The Gates Foundation is accepting grant proposals for Round 4 of Grand Challenges Explorations until November 2nd 2009
RECENT/UPCOMING EVENTS
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