Imperial College London calls for action to combat threat of drug resistant diseases

Call to action: Professor Alice Gast
Thomas Angus Studyshots
28 September 2015

The president of Imperial College has warned that diseases are becoming more resistant than ever to drugs.

Professor Alice Gast said previously treatable diseases such as tuberculosis were making a comeback and that urgent action was needed to ensure that antibiotics were more effective.

In the developing world, malaria was proving harder to combat than previously thought, with experts reporting that there were now only one or two drugs that remained effective.

Imperial has started a campaign to stem the rising tide of potentially deadly infections.

The Antimicrobial Resistance Collaborative was launched at the university’s South Kensington campus by the UK’s chief medical officer, Dame Sally Davies, on Friday.

The group wants academics, businesses and government to contribute to the fight against ever-strengthening and changing infections.

Bacteria are getting stronger, while the illnesses they cause are getting worse. Now’s the time for action

&#13; <p>Professor Alice Gast</p>&#13;

Professor Gast said: “As bacteria develop resistance, our efforts to stem infectious diseases are increasingly futile.

“Bacteria are getting stronger, while the illnesses they cause are getting worse. Now’s the time for action.

"London’s academics, businesses, hospitals and charities can help solve this great challenge of our time.

“Historical common killers like tuberculosis are becoming untreatable.

"Diseases like gonorrhoea are proving resistant to drugs right now in the UK. In the words of the chief medical officer, Sally Davies, ‘the drugs don’t work’.”

Experts believe the increasing resistance of diseases is partly due to the over-prescription of antibiotics.

The professor at Imperial, world-renowned for its scientific research, said: “Too many of us demand antibiotics from our doctors whenever we are mildly ill — and too many doctors prescribe them.

“As medicine advances, we expect to get healthier. But our faith in medical progress is being turned on its head. And we should have seen it coming.”

Professor Gast said doctors and scientists needed to accelerate the hunt for new drugs, citing a warning that failing to tackle the increasing resistance of diseases would result in an extra 10 million deaths worldwide each year by 2050.

She added: “We’ve heard the warnings. Now’s the time for action … to tackle this great threat to humanity.”

Professor Dame Sally Davies said: “Drug-resistant infections are one of the great health challenges of our time.

“We need the best and brightest minds from all academic disciplines and all sectors to contribute to the fight.

"Imperial is one of the world’s great universities.

"Working across disciplines to solve global challenges, like drug-resistant infections, is what it does best.”

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