SHIP team turns the University blue for World Antimicrobial Resistance Awareness Week

Researchers in the School of Health and Life Sciences’ Research Centre for Health (ReaCH) are pulling out all the stops to mark World Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Awareness Week which runs until November 24.

The ReaCH Safeguarding Health through Infection Prevention (SHIP) Research Group joined the World Health Organization (WHO) ‘Going Blue for AMR’ colour campaign by encouraging staff to wear blue for a photoshoot and sharing it on social media. The ‘Going Blue for AMR’ social media campaign was organised by SHIP PhD researcher Pranitha Murali.

This year, World AMR Awareness Week, from 18–24 November 18-24, focuses on the urgent actions needed to stop antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and the theme is Preventing antimicrobial resistance together.

AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites no longer respond to the active ingredients, or antimicrobial agents, in medicines used to treat them. When antibiotics (which are used to treat bacterial infections) and other antimicrobial agents become ineffective, infections become difficult or impossible to treat, increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death.

AMR contributes to almost 5 million human deaths from bacterial infections alone each year. This, coupled with the poor state of research and development investment into new antimicrobials, has led WHO to highlight AMR as one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity. Fungi are one of the key groups of microbes that AMR affects.

Gordon Ramage, Professor of Infection Prevention and Control in the SHIP team, has written a blog entitled Killer Fun Killer Fungi: A Neglected and Dangerous Kingdom of Microorganisms?