Advisory committee on antibiotic resistance formed
The Department of Health has set up a new independent
advisory committee on antimicrobial resistance. The Specialist Advisory
Committee on Antimicrobial Resistance (SACAR) has been set up in response
to a House of Lords’ report on resistance to antibiotics published in
April 1998. Its membership will include a pharmacist.
The committee is chaired by Professor Richard Wise,
professor of clinical microbiology at City Hospital, Birmingham, and includes
Dr Jonathan Cooke, director of pharmacy and deputy director of research
and development at the Withington Hospital, Manchester. Professor Wise,
said: “Overuse of antibiotics is at the heart of the resistance problem.
A number of antibiotics are used for the treatment of simple infections
which are caused by viruses, not influenced by antibiotics.
“There is a need to reduce this inappropriate use.
Controlling the spread of these resistant organisms around both hospitals
and the community is another major challenge. Antibiotic resistance is
everybody’s problem and will need a concerted and long-term strategy if
we are not to return to the pre-antibiotic era.”
Back to Top
|
