As a physician and academic researcher I am acutely aware of the important role that antimicrobials have played in underpinning and ensuring the success of 21st century medicine. I am equally aware of the threats posed by bacterial resistance to antimicrobial agents and the almost empty antibiotic pipeline, caused by the combined catastrophes of antibiotic [...]

Antibiotic resistance is one of the major threats to the health of the public?yet it is poorly appreciated by politicians, public and even health care providers. Although antibiotics have proven to be one of the most important life savers of the 20th century there is an inexorable decline in their efficacy and soon we will [...]

The thought of practicing modern medicine without antibiotics is a frightening prospect.

Severe clinical problems are arising on a global scale from the emergence of antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria and there is a lack of new antibacterial drugs to challenge the threat. The discovery and development of new drugs active against bacteria resistant to current antibiotics are essential to prevent a future medical and social catastrophe. [...]

As researcher working on bacterial pathogenesis for the last 15 years and having discussed the alarming rise of antibiotic resistance with my clinician colleagues and the lack of available alternatives with my industry links, I fully endorse this awareness campaign.

The pupils who I teach now marvel at the advances made in antibiotic therapy in the previous century. It would be a travesty to confine these teachings to history rather than keep them at the cutting edge of current scientific teaching when we owe so much to these drugs. We need to act now to [...]

This initiative is not just important, it is vital. We are rapidly losing one of the worlds precious resources and a world without antibiotics will plunge us back into the dark ages in treating infections.

Have worked on antibiotics for 40 years and can remember prescribing sulfonamides in the 1970s. Since then we have seen resistance to class after class of antibiotics. For the last 10 years there have been no new classes and we have run out of licensed treatments for some infections. Change is necessary to encourage phaarmaceutical [...]

Antibiotic resistance, particularly in Gram negatives represents a real threat to healthcare systems worldwide. The existing R&D and regulatory framework is just not capable of delivering new antibiotics sustainably. New innovative initiatives are urgently needed to stimulate partnerships between industry, academia, regulators and the medical profession to deliver and protect effective medicines of the future.

It has long been recognised that the development of antibiotics is far too important to be left to purely to market forces.