Prof Laura Piddock warns that we face”catastrophe” without new antibiotics.

She is professor of microbiology at the University of Birmingham and leads a research team investigating clinically important antibiotic resistance.

She is also President of the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy and leads Antibiotic Action, a global initiative established by BSAC.  Antibiotic Action is the forum through which we will call all parties – government, health professionals, industry and charities – to identify and implement solutions within the research, regulation and economic markets to stimulate and regenerate interest in the discovery and development of antibiotic agents of the future.

This is what she says on her video:

Antibiotic Action is an initiative to raise awareness of the lack of antibiotics. This is important as antibiotics are cheap and easily available drugs that most of us have taken during our lives.

They’ve been available since World War 2, but before the 1950s many people with infections died, for instance babies and children did not reach adulthood.

The use of antibiotics has led to incredible advances in medicine, from successful surgery to cancer treatments. I’m sure you are familiar with antibiotics as you may have taken them for a chest infection, but they are also incredibly important in hospitals to treat the seriously ill.

21st century medicine is often very sophisticated, from heart transplants to knee and hip replacements, to treating soldiers returning from combat zones. Infections are also very common during natural disasters, such as earthquakes, tsunamis and floods and we need antibiotics to treat people who succumb to infections during these times.

However, I’m sure you are aware that there are increasing numbers of antibiotic resistance bacteria emerging and such strains are being spread around the world. What is less known is that there are very few new agents being developed by pharmaceutical companies and many have stopped developing antibiotics completely.

With the increasing numbers of antibiotic resistance bacteria, and the likelihood of few new agents to treat infections, this means we are faced with a scenario of  untreatable infections and a return to the pre-antibiotic era with many more people dying from bacterial infections.

This is a particular concern, not just to the seriously ill, but also to the young, elderly, and other vulnerable groups of people, such as those undergoing cancer chemotherapy. So the wonderful advances in medicine and new treatments may no longer be possible.

We need new antibiotics and this initiative, Antibiotics Action, is to make everyone aware of this pending catastrophe which is almost upon us.

We need your support to re-stimulate antibiotic discovery, research, and development so that new agents are available when our current drugs are no longer useful. If you are concerned about what a future with no new antibiotics will mean to you, your family and your friends, please support us and add your name to the petition on our website.

The petition also allows you to see you else has signed it and from where, and to read their comments too.