Providing the measurement skills to beat antimicrobial resistance

Antimicrobial resistance – the increasing inability of conventional antibiotics to treat microbial infections – threatens the effective prevention and treatment of an ever-increasing range of infections. By 2050, antimicrobial resistance is estimated to account for an additional 10 million deaths, which is potentially as many as 1 every 3 seconds.

If antimicrobial resistance continues to increase the economic and health costs are predicted to be associated with a cumulative loss of global economic output of $100 trillion to 2050 which, compounded with a substantial increase in infant and child mortality, may also put an end to key advances in medical areas such as surgery and cancer treatment.

We are one of 11 partners from across five countries in the European-funded project AntiMicroResist (AMR), which aims to apply innovative measurement concepts to underpin diagnostic analysis and support standardisation of antimicrobial resistance testing.

Reproducible, accurate and specific diagnostic test methods will enable a coordinated global approach which targets existing treatments effectively and supports the rollout of emerging antibiotics and other antimicrobial drugs.

AntiMicroResist will aid clinicians by developing the measurement needed to reliably evaluate new and existing clinical test methods used in the detection and monitoring of antimicrobial resistance, including reference materials for calibrating instruments and test systems. In addition, validated methods will also enable laboratories to benchmark their procedures, ensuring high accuracy, comparable measurements across Europe. Achieving these objectives will increase the efficacy of clinical testing, allowing clinicians to better target existing and novel treatments and mitigating the key driver of antimicrobial resistance.

We will work with partners, hospitals and key stakeholder charities to develop the measurement science needed to manage antimicrobial resistance.