2017

Opinion

ReAct wishes for 2018 – node by node

We would like to thank you for 2017 with wishes for an exciting 2018!

Read ReAct wishes for 2018, node by node. Together we can make a difference.

News

ReAct Asia Pacific: photography contest on antibiotic resistance in India

ReAct Asia Pacific launched a photography contest for students from India, on the occasion of World Antibiotics Awareness Week 2017. The themes for the contest were broad, and included antimicrobial resistance, antibiotic abuse, One-health approach and Food as Medicine. The aim of the contest was to spread the awareness about the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance in India and the world.

Opinion

The ethics of antibiotic resistance

Bacterial resistance to antibiotics gives rise to new ethical problems. Much of medical ethics prior to antibiotics has been focused on whether a certain procedure is justified, for example with respect to safety, efficacy and costs. But as antibiotic resistance has a global impact that persists over time, new questions arise that cannot be solved only by more or better science. In contrast with science, which is descriptive, ethics is normative. Ethics deals with what we ought to do or ought not to do.

News

ReAct highlights during World Antibiotic Awareness week

During World Antibiotic Awareness Week ReAct Africa, ReAct Asia Pacific and ReAct Latin America arranged a series of activities. In the link below you find a sample of our events in seven articles. Read more about activities such as the awareness walk in Kenya, our media briefing in Jakarta or the manifest for health in Latin America.

News

Sensitizing the Indian media to antimicrobial resistance

On the occasion of the World Antibiotic Awareness Week, ReAct Asia-Pacific organized a half-day workshop on antimicrobial resistance for media personnel in Trivandrum, Kerala, the southern-most province of India. Over two dozen media personnel took part in the workshop that dealt with various aspects of antimicrobial resistance, including the need for an ecological approach to find sustainable and long-lasting solutions.

News

Manifest for health by social organizations in Latin America

During World Antibiotic Awareness Week a diversity of multinational actors in Latin America pronounced a manifest to stop the spread of antibiotic resistance for the health of the people.

Organizations from Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and more than 20 Latin American countries represented by the People’s Health Movement joined this manifest.

News

Role of pharmacists in stopping antimicrobial resistance

Pharmacists have a critical role to play in helping stop the spread of antimicrobial resistance or antimicrobial resistance by dispensing antibiotics in a safe and rational manner and also spreading awareness about the dangers of inappropriate use. ReAct Asia Pacific arranged a seminar on “Antimicrobial Resistance and Antibiotic Use – The Role of Pharmacists” 15 November as part of the World Antibiotic Awareness Week activities in India.

News

ReAct Africa: Preparing future guardians of AMR in Kenya

In collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Kenya, WHO, EPN and ReAct Africa the team conducted a Continuous Medical Education (CME) exercise on 14 November at the Kenya Medical Training College in Nairobi, Kenya. The objective of this exercise was to sensitize students on the Ministry of Health’s policies on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in public health across sectors and specifically, the importance of Infection and Prevention Programs in health facilities. This event, held on the third day of activities during the World Antibiotic Awareness Week, was a success as over two hundred Kenya Medical Training College students piled into an assembly hall on the Kenyatta National Hospital campus.

News

ReAct Asia Pacific media briefing: 40 journalists in Jakarta interested in antibiotic resistance

ReAct’s partner in Indonesia, the Concerned and Caring Parents Foundation (Yayasan Orangtua Peduli/YOP), joined forces with the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture and FAO Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Diseases (FAO ECTAD) in holding a media briefing for the Indonesian key media. The media briefing was aimed at improving the journalists’ awareness and understanding of antimicrobial resistance, and encouraging them to promote the increasing threats of antimicrobial resistance to the public.

News

ReAct Latin America launches book with a One Health perspective

Kicking off World Antibiotic Awareness Week, ReAct Latin America launches the book “Extending and Embellishing the Mosaic”. It is the third volume of ReAct Latin America’s series Reimagining the Resistance.

News

ReAct Africa walks for antibiotic awareness

Earlier today a public awareness walk from Uhuru Park to the Kenyatta National Hospital grounds in Nairobi, Kenya, kicked off the World Antibiotic Awareness Week for ReAct Africa.

Opinion

Focus on non-human use

Global antibiotic consumption in livestock was in 2013 estimated to be over 130 thousand tons. These large quantities of antibiotics are used for disease prevention and control and as growth promoters in food animals.

Given that all antibiotic use runs the risk of promoting survival of resistant bacteria this reliance on antibiotic use to sustain intense farming practices and production systems is concerning both from the perspective of resistance development.

Opinion

Antibiotics in animal agriculture

Food production has always been an important issue for mankind, and the current food industry is relying on antibiotics to secure the supply of food and income to farmers. However, the use of antibiotics for food production has been a major driver of antibiotic resistance, which is emerging as a threat to food security.

News

ReAct during World Antibiotic Awareness Week 2017

During World Antibiotic Awareness Week ReAct Africa, ReAct Asia Pacific and ReAct Latin America arrange a series of activities to raise awareness among general public, media, veterinarians, farmers, policy workers and health care personell.

News

Lessons learned from 20 years of working to improve antibiotic use

In the early 1990s, a group of clinical specialists in Sweden realized that action was needed against antibiotic resistance, as multi-drug resistant pneumococci were increasingly seen among children.

Although Sweden has a well-structured health care system, the antibiotic stewardship efforts were weak and not coordinated. While some physicians had seen the huge impact of antibiotics on health first-hand, many seemed oblivious to the consequences of overuse

News

Member States to discuss innovation, access and conservation of antibiotics at the WHO

Member States’ representatives will gather in Geneva on November 9-10 where the WHO is holding the second consultation on the Global Development and Stewardship Framework. In preparation, the WHO has prepared a draft roadmap to guide discussions

News

The state of Kerala will develop India’s first subnational action plan on AMR

Mid October a high level workshop to discuss antimicrobial resistance (AMR) was held in Kerala, India. Stakeholders of the region joined the workshop to find solutions on how to move forward in the state’s work on antimicrobial resistance. A State Action Plan on AMR will be developed, the first subnational plan in India.

Opinion

International Day for the Eradication of Poverty 2017

Antibiotic resistance strikes hardest at the poor.

It is a well-known fact that antibiotic resistant infections have a major influence on the health of people globally. Antibiotic resistance increases both mortality and morbidity due to treatment failures and lack of effective therapy. But antibiotic resistance has even more far-reaching consequences on different levels that often tend to be overlooked.

Opinion

From ReAct Africa Conference: 6 gaps and 7 key outputs how to make implementation of NAPS on AMR possible

Antimicrobial resistance champions from 14 predominantly African countries gathered in Machakos, Kenya to share experiences and updates on the progress of their implementation of National Action Plans on Antimicrobial Resistance.

Opinion

Ensuring action on the AMR Global Action Plan

To ensure stakeholders are taking action on the Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance, WHO, FAO and OIE have come together to develop a monitor & evaluation approach.

Members of the ARC Coalition, including ReAct, came together for two teleconference calls in order to develop joint responses for the public consultation process.

News

ReAct meets the European Commissioner for Health

Mid September ReAct met with the European Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis to amongst other topics discuss what European wide solutions to the problem of some old, but still effective antibiotics being reported unavailable in many European countries.

Opinion

The world is running out of antibiotics – new report from WHO

A new report from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows a serious lack of new antibiotics under development to combat the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance.

Read ReAct’s comment in article.

News

Crucial stakeholder meeting in India: how to get the Indian NAP on AMR from words into action

End August, ReAct Asia Pacific participated in the consultation National consultation to operationalize Action Plan for AMR containment held in New Delhi, India.

Sujith J Chandy, Head of ReAct Asia Pacific, says:

– This is a crucial meeting of all stakeholders, from all sectors, meant to galvanize the National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance into on the ground operationalization.

Opinion

Antibiotic stewardship in South East Asia

In a series of papers in the BMJ, invited authors summarize the most recent developments regarding antimicrobial resistance in the South East Asian region. In these countries, antibiotic use is high and policies are either absent or poorly implemented.

Here we highlight two of these articles focusing on antibiotic use and stewardship. They give good examples and may provide inspiration to other low- and middle-income countries.

News

Conference in Ecuador: health, food, the planet and the microbial world

Is there a relation between production of healthy food, the care of the environment, bacteria, the proper use of antibiotics and human health and the health of the planet?

This was discussed at the Community Workshop Sacred Foods That Heal, held on 19 and 20 September in the Langa Community of Saraguro, Ecuador.

Opinion

Food, microbes and health

Infectious diseases and antibiotic resistance are related with nutrition through intricate connections, which are poorly understood. Several hypotheses have been proposed suggesting that our gut microbiome is instrumental for our health in many ways.

Opinion

ReAct’s priorities in what promises to be an important autumn for antibiotic resistance

A crucial autumn for policy in the field of antibiotic resistance is coming up. Important steps in defining what the global response to the challenge of generating innovation of new crucial antibiotics while ensuring their affordable access and sustainable conservation will likely be taken.

News

Important African conference: How will we be able to implement National Action Plans on Antimicrobial Resistance?

Mirfin Mpundu, Head of ReAct Africa says:

”Developing National Action Plans on antimicrobial resistance is a great accomplishment but implementing is even a greater accomplishment. Participants will discuss how they can move forward with implementation within the One Health framework, prioritization, costing, unique challenges, stewardship, integrating antimicrobial resistance as a core element in current running programs. ReAct is honored to support these public global goals.”

News

Antibiotic resistance: national workshop in India for voluntary organizations

End July, the workshop “National Workshop on AMR and Antibiotic Use: For Voluntary Organisations” was organized by ReAct Asia Pacific. The workshop was meant as a platform to engage various civil society organizations and sensitize them about the implications of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and the need to improve antibiotic use

News

Many countries identify antimicrobial resistance as an obstacle on their way to implementing Agenda 2030

In 2017, forty-four countries volunteered to present their Voluntary National Reviews to the UN High-level Political Forum. Six countries directly referenced antimicrobial resistance containment activities as a means towards successful realization of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Opinion

Resistance to last-line antibiotics

The increasing resistance to existing antibiotics and lack of antibiotics with new mechanisms of action against Gram-negative bacteria has lead to the revival of old, formerly abandoned, drugs as last options. The polymyxins and fosfomycin are two such old antibiotics, which are increasingly relied upon when treating resistant infections.

Opinion

Microbes – friend, foe or both?

Life on Earth is arranged in ecosystems where all species are dependent on each other in intricate networks. We humans are also part of ecosystems, but we also harbour one in ourselves, an ecosystem of microbes called the human microbiome.

It is time to stop thinking about bacteria only as something bad that need to be exterminated and start thinking about ecology. We also need to develop new anti-infective therapies that do not also kill our microbiome when they kill the pathogenic microbes that make us sick.

News

Essential Diagnostics List (EDL) to be developed

Along with the recommendations on antibiotics, the WHO Expert Committee on the Selection of Essential Medicines urged that an Essential Diagnostics List (EDL) be developed. Like the Essential Medicines List, the EDL would “provide evidence-based guidance to countries to create their own national lists of essential diagnostic tests and tools.

News

Media workshop on bacterial resistance in Ecuador: a success

Antibiotic resistance is a pressing global challenge that requires a concerted response by all members of society. Everyone can do their own part to address the growing threat. Journalists play an important role to spread and share information to other stakeholders. It is important to guide these professionals in their communications around the complex issue of antibiotic resistance and encourage them to join ReAct in the call to action.

News

Key take-aways from the World Health Assembly 2017 on antimicrobial resistance

During the 70th World Health assembly 60 countries and 11 non-state actors took the floor in what ended up being a 3-hour long debate on antimicrobial resistance. The debate touched on progress in developing national action plans and challenges in their implementation; support and concerns over the joint WHO, OIE and FAO progress document on the Development and Stewardship Framework as well as the newly established ad-hoc UN Inter-Agency Coordination Group.

News

Successful antimicrobial resistance media training in Kenya

Beginning of May, ReAct and EPN in partnership with the AMR Media Network Kenya conducted a one-day media training on antimicrobial resistance. The purpose was to raise awareness among journalists on antimicrobial resistance as a major public health challenge. The day was hosted by the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI).

News

ReAct Asia Pacific hosts workshop on antimicrobial resistance in the farm sector

Beginning of May, ReAct Asia Pacific organized a one-day consultation entitled “Workshop on Anti-Microbial Resistance and use of Antibiotics in non-human sectors” at Thiruvananthapuram, the capital city of the State of Kerala, India. The workshop attracted over 60 delegates.

News

ReAct supports countries in the development of National Action Plans on AMR

National Action Plans are an essential component of the global strategies to address antibiotic resistance. At the country level, ReAct supports the development of National Action Plans together with partners from WHO, FAO, OIE and civil society organizations.

Opinion

National action plans and global AMR framework on the agenda as 70th World Health Assembly

Antimicrobial resistance features on the agenda at the 70th World Health Assembly. Focus will be on country progress in developing their National Action Plans on antimicrobial resistance, progress on finalizing the Global Development and Stewardship Framework and finally the setup of the ad hoc UN Interagency Coordination Group.

News

ReAct co-hosts side event during World Health Assembly

Monday 22nd May, during the 70th World Health Assembly, ReAct, members of the Antibiotic Resistance Coalition and allies including South Centre, Médecins Sans Frontières, Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative, Health Action International and Medicus Mundi International will be co-hosting a side event.

World Water Day

Hand hygiene saves lives

The most influential measure to prevent infections in all of recorded history has been hand hygiene. As such, hand hygiene is not only about preventing infections, but also controlling antibiotic resistance. Hand hygiene is the single most important – and most cost-effective – measure to control spread of pathogens whether resistant to antibiotics or not.

World water day

Hand hygiene to prevent infections

Hand hygiene is the single most effective measure to stop transmission of health care associated pathogens. A variety of basic actions can be used to prevent and control infections.

A selection of basic hand hygiene resources can be found in the ReAct Toolbox.

Opinion

Lack of access to old antibiotics drives antibiotic resistance development and impairs patient outcomes

Old, but still effective antibiotics used to treat a variety of common bacterial infections are becoming more difficult to access in many countries – often because companies withdraw the drugs from the market for commercial reasons.

News

The Swedish Government awards Reward Medal to Professor Otto Cars

Professor Otto Cars, founder of ReAct, is awarded a Reward Medal by the Swedish Government for his long time commitment and achievements on catalyzing action on antibiotic resistance both nationally and internationally.

News

Free online course: Antibiotic Resistance: the Silent Tsunami

The free online course “Antibiotic Resistance: the Silent Tsunami” introduces the concepts of antibiotic resistance and what actions are needed to meet this global health threat. Sign up now, start 24 April.

Opinion

New antibiotics in the news

Every now and then, news headlines report on findings of new antibiotics, such as “Maple Syrup Can Kill Superbugs”. Often they are portrayed as ”new”, ”potent”, ”killing superbugs” or having ”no resistance development”. Just reading the headlines, you would be forgiven for thinking the antibiotic crisis is close to being solved. But this is not the case.

News

Tell Our Bac-Stories!

In one way or another we are all storytellers, we all have something to say. This is why ReAct Latin America, in cooperation with the University of Azuay and the Catholic University of Cuenca, has launched a regional open call: Tell Our Bac-Stories! The purpose is to collect stories about antibiotic resistance, Sumak Kawsay (an indigenous term for well being), antibiotic misuse, nutrition, mother earth, one health and similar topics.

News

Presentation of the Alforja Validation Project

A few weeks ago, the Alforja Validation Project was presented to the students of the Medicin Faculty from the Universidad Del Azuay and the Universidad Católica de Cuenca. This event took place in the Administration Room of the Universidad del Azuay, which was entirely filled with lots of enthusiastic guests.

News

Professor Otto Cars to serve as Expert in UN Inter-Agency Coordination Group on Antimicrobial Resistance

This week Professor Otto Cars, founder of ReAct – Action on Antibiotic Resistance, was formally nominated to the United Nations (UN) ad-hoc Interagency Coordination Group on Antimicrobial Resistance (ICG-AMR) by the United Nations Secretary General.

Opinion

India’s link between tuberculosis and antibiotic resistance

Improving detection, diagnosis, and treatment of tuberculosis in India, home to the world’s largest number of tuberculosis patients, may hold the key to bringing down both antimicrobial and antibiotic resistance globally.

News

India’s new National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance

As one of the countries most affected by antimicrobial resistance India is now taking rapid strides to address the growing problem.

Opinion

Professor Larsson on emissions from antibiotics production and India’s National Action Plan on AMR

Professor Joakim Larsson welcomes the section focusing on emissions from antibiotics production in new India’s draft for National Action Plan on Antibiotic Resistance.

Opinion

Environmental effects of antibiotics in sewage

Clean, fresh water is one of the most important natural resources of the world. Yet large amounts of chemicals, including antibiotics, are released into the environment through wastewater.

Opinion

Boston Consulting Group report shies away from addressing affordable access and stewardship

In a follow-up to a previous report, the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) last week released Breaking through the Wall: A Call for Concerted Action on Antibiotics Research and Development, for the German Federal Ministry of Health.

Opinion

WHO Releases Priority Pathogens List

ReAct welcomes the published WHO priority pathogens list (PPL), which is the first global effort to guide and promote research and development (R&D) of new antibiotics.  The major objective of the PPL is to guide the prioritization of incentives and funding, help align R&D priorities with public health needs and support global coordination in the fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Opinion

Could the use of Antimicrobial Peptides create resistance to ourselves?

In the wake of antimicrobial resistance and the severe lack of new antibiotics being discovered, researchers have turned to alternative strategies.

News

Antibiotic Smart Use project nominated for global UN Award

In a major recognition of its contributions to public health Thailand’s Antibiotic Smart Use (ASU) project has been nominated for the prestigious UN Public Service Award 2017.

News

Recap of WHO 140th Executive Board meeting

The discussions on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) at the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) 140th Executive Board meeting, had several interesting interventions from Member States on the key areas that the WHO was given responsibility over in the UNGA Political Declaration on AMR from September 2016.

News

New collaboration on strategies for tackling antibiotic resistance

ReAct and Stockholm Resilience Centre join forces on the global antibiotic resistance challenge.

Opinion

ReAct briefings for the 140th WHO Executive Board

For the 140th session of WHO Executive Board, which run from January 23 to February 1, ReAct has developed and shared a briefing document for the agenda point on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR ) and a number of other relevant agenda points for Member State Missions in Geneva to consider.

News

The role of faith-based organizations in taking action against antibiotic resistance

Late December 2016 a group of more than 30 experts from the faith based health sector was invited to attend a workshop on strengthening faith-based engagement in “Combating the Emergence and Spread of Antimicrobial Resistance”, at the Vatican.

Opinion

Bacteriophages as a part of hospital hygiene

Health-care associated infections are troublesome from many aspects, not only are they often more virulent or more resistant but also strike at the heart of health care: people go to the hospital to be cured, only to contract another potentially lethal disease.

Opinion

ReAct wishes for 2017!

ReAct wishes for 2017, node by node.