Longitude Prize 2014: Saving antibiotics for humanity"s future

• Individuals not finishing the complete course of antibiotics.

• Use in food manufacturing – growth promotion in animals

Incorrect use in these ways means that bacteria and are in a position to produce resistance.

AMR is a worldwide dilemma. Infectious agents recognise no boundaries and borders. In Europe alone 25,000 individuals a 12 months currently die from infections which are resistant to our medicines of final resort. We have reached a vital level and need to act now on a international scale to slow down AMR.

International momentum is creating – last month the Globe Health Organisation released a report on antimicrobial resistance, confirming that WHO now regards AMR as a major threat to public wellness. I was delighted to see that WHO is taking methods to lead a international, coordinated hard work to tackle this dilemma.

It is time to build on this impetus to build a check that can establish the first, and critical, place – if the patient wants an antibiotic at all. If AMR wins the Longitude Prize, some of our brightest minds will concentrate on the growth of a diagnostic device that can confirm a bacterial infection. This is the first phase in conserving antibiotics by guaranteeing that antibiotics are only prescribed for bacterial infections, that means that we can slow the development of resistance.

We truly require one thing that could be utilized across the world – this is the minute to harness the clarion get in touch with to action that has been issued. I urge the public to engage with this wonderful initiative and vote for AMR to win this year’s Longitude Prize.

LONGITUDE PRIZE 2014

The Longitude Prize provides a £10 million prize fund for an innovation that will fix one particular of the major problems of our time. And we can all help to decide which of 6 themes the prize must focus on. The six issues are:

• To assist men and women with dementia live independently for longer

• To assist avoid the rise of resistance to antibiotics

• To support us to be ready to fly without having damaging the setting

• To aid guarantee everybody has nutritious, sustainable meals

• To help restore motion to those with paralysis

• To support ensure absolutely everyone can have entry to protected and clean water

You can vote for the challenge you believe the Longitude Prize need to pursue at bbc.co.united kingdom/horizon. Voting closes at seven.10pm on June 25 2014. The winning challenge will be announced on June 25 and will become the target of the £10 million prize fund. The Longitude Committee will then finalise the criteria for how to win the prize, and from September tips can be submitted. The Longitude Prize will run for up to five many years.

Longitude Prize 2014: Saving antibiotics for humanity"s future