” UK/Argentina agree to work together against antimicrobial resistance”

“United Kingdom’s Health and Social Care Secretary Jeremy Hunt has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Argentine Government to work together against antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in the environment.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) happens when microbes including bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites no longer respond to the drugs we use to treat them, including antibiotics. This sometimes leaves us powerless to treat what we often consider to be routine infections.

The primary contributor to the development and spread of AMR is the wide use of antibiotics in human and animal medicine, including livestock production. The subsequent pollution of drugs and resistant microbes in the environment can further amplify the global spread of AMR. This poses a great threat to both human and animal health, including livestock productivity and food security, which disproportionally affects people in developing and emerging economies.

That is why the UK government’s Global AMR Innovation Fund (GAMRIF), part of the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Argentine Ministry of Health to work together on this issue.”

Source: MercoPress