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Health experts questioned on future pandemic threats 

17 June 2022

The Science and Technology Committee questions leading health experts on the threat posed by superbugs and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) compared against other diseases with the potential to become a pandemic.

Witnesses

Wednesday 22 June, Grimond Room, Portcullis House

At 9.30am

Panel 1

  • Professor Alison Holmes, Professor of Infectious Diseases, Imperial College London
  • Lord O’Neill of Gatley, Chair, The Review on Antimicrobial Resistance (2014–16)

At 10.15am

Panel 2

  • Dr Kitty Healey, Head of Antimicrobial Resistance Policy and Surveillance Team, Veterinary Medicines Directorate
  • Professor Mark Woolhouse, Professor of Infectious Disease Epidemiology, University of Edinburgh

At 11.00am

Panel 3

  • Dr Seamus O'Brien, R&D Director, Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GADRP)
  • Professor Robert Schooley, Division of Infectious Diseases, UC San Diego School of Medicine
  • Dr Peter Jackson, Executive Director, Infex Therapeutics

The session comes as the WHO’s emergency committee prepares to consider on 23 June whether the spread of Monkeypox to 32 non-endemic countries should be declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern.

The O’Neill Review in 2016 concluded that, if left unchecked, AMR could account for an estimated 10 million deaths globally per year by 2050. The session will examine the latest evidence on the causes of AMR and the best solutions. The effectiveness of Government action since the review will also be examined. Areas of focus will include the use of antibiotics in agriculture, debate over the impact of covid-19 on AMR levels, progress in developing new antimicrobial drugs as well as the use of innovative treatments such as phage therapy to treat drug-resistant illnesses.

Further information

Image: Open Government licence