World Antimicrobial Resistance Awareness Week at the University of Edinburgh

As the world marks Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Awareness Week, a group from the Fleming Fund Fellowship programmes in southern and east Africa have just completed two weeks of intensive training in Edinburgh. 

The programme, part of the UK Government’s efforts to combat AMR in low- and middle-income countries, is empowering fellows to address this urgent global health threat, with the University of Edinburgh serving as a host institution for training and mentorship.

Seventeen fellows from Uganda and Zambia participated in a mix of policy workshops, hands-on lab sessions and training in quality control and infection medicine. 

On Wednesday 20 November we welcomed Professor Alison Holmes to deliver Edinburgh Infectious Diseases' annual Winter Lecture.

The Edinburgh Infectious Diseases Winter Lecture is a pretigious event in the calendar, with previous speaakers such as Professor Kenny Baillie, Professor Sarah Cleaveland and Sir Jeremy Farrar. 

Professor Holmes is Professor of Infectious Diseases and the Director of both the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare Associated Infections and AMR and the Centre for Antimicrobial Optimisation (CAMO), at Imperial College London.

Her talk 'Protecting healthcare, preventing infection and preserving antibiotics' was a huge success with audience members spanning academia, healthcare professionals and even school pupils.

Professor Holmes was an engaging speaker and her talked prompted a large number of questions in the Q&A afterwards.

Edinburgh Infectious Diseases has many people working on a variety of different activities addressing AMR Awareness. 

Here is just a snapshot of some of the work being done through the network.

Dr Jess Mitchell from the Roslin Institute has been working with Greenhood Nepal on a project called ‘Exploring antimicrobial pesticide use and AMR risks within smallholding communities around Chitwan National Park Nepal’From July 2024 Jess and the Greenhood team have been working in the Chitwan National Park region to explore how small holding communities in this wildlife dense region use pesticides. 

They wish to find out the antimicrobial potential of such pesticides and if they need to be considered in AMR interventions. We are particularly interested in the rationale for pesticide use considering how close these people live to the National Park and their connectedness to local wildlife which has important cultural and economic value (tourism). 

Professor Dominic Moran from the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies is co-lead of IMPACT AMR - a UK Research and Innovation funded network which will tackle antimicrobial resistance.It will include working with policymakers and stakeholders to prioritise effective interventions that reduce the AMR burden in a feasible, socially acceptable and economically beneficial manner.Other goals:  

• Connecting and expanding the community of researchers, policy makers and publics with a shared goal to optimize efforts to minimize the AMR burden
• Connecting and packaging evidence for policy across the spectrum of domains for intervening on AMR
• Starting with a UK focus, the network intends to provide generalizable approaches, towards a platform for international use 

Dr Callum Mutch, an infectious disease doctor with NHS Lothian and member of Edinburgh Infectious Diseases is co-host of the podcast 'ID:IOTS' - Infectious Disease Insight Of Two Specialists. 

Join Callum and Jame, two infectious diseases doctors, as they discuss everything you need to know to diagnose and treat infections. Aimed at doctors and clinical staff working in the UK, the podcast has an informal tone, plenty of puns and there are plenty of episodes to choose from. 

Callum and Jame's most recent episode is in honour of World AMR Awareness Week and they are joined by members of the Scottish Antimicrobial Prescribing Group.