Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) has become a global threat and rapid diagnostics are urgently needed to tackle this challenge.
Completed project
To identify barriers to the development, implementation and use of rapid diagnostics and propose a roadmap to future solutions we are launching AMR Rapid Diagnostic Tests (AMR-RDT) as a multi-sectoral, multi-stakeholder and interdisciplinary working group with global reach. It brings together over 50 key individuals and organisations from 15 countries worldwide that are active in the field of diagnostics and antimicrobial resistance. This unprecedented body of expertise and the access it brings to national and international institutions, and networks will amplify the reach and implementation of the working group’s outputs. AMR-RDT will concentrate on five overarching topics: Need & Target Product Profiles, Technologies, Development Roadmaps, Business Models, and Behavioural Change.
The working group will focus on human healthcare but also recognises the importance of One Health aspects. AMR-RDT is funded as a one-year project by the UK Medical Research Council under the frame of the Joint Planning Initiative on AMR (JPIAMR) and is coordinated by Till Bachmann at the University of Edinburgh.
Network partners
- Till Bachmann, University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom (Coordinator)
This network includes 50 partners, please click on the following link to see complete network composition: Network composition AMR Rapid Diagnostic Tests (AMR-RDT)
Popular summary
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is set to devastate modern medicine if left unchecked. Rapid diagnostics are urgently needed that can quickly tell if antibiotics are needed and which ones to use. Many strategic initiatives and policy interventions around the globe promote the development and use of rapid diagnostics. Nevertheless, there is a substantial gap between the urgent need for rapid diagnostics versus how much they are actually used.
To identify barriers of development and implementation of rapid diagnostic tests, the Transnational Working Group AMR Rapid Diagnostic Tests (AMR-RDT) was formed in 2017 from about 50 expert stakeholders and funded through the Joint Programming Initiative on Antimicrobial Resistance. This expert group has developed three major guidance publications in 2017/18. These documents address 1) how to find out which properties new diagnostic tests need to have to be accepted by end users, 2) which aspects must be considered for new diagnostic product development pathways and 3) which behavioural change is needed so a new diagnostic test is used and achieves its impact on tackling the threat of AMR.
The Transnational Working Group AMR Rapid Diagnostic Tests had input to wider AMR diagnostic initiatives such as the UK Longitude Prize on Antibiotics and the Innovative Medicines Initiative and plans to continue contributing to the global fight against AMR in the future.
Publications
- European Journal of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, 2019. The successful uptake and sustainability of rapid infectious disease and antimicrobial resistance point-of-care testing requires a complex ‘mix-and-match’ implementation package
- Nature Reviews Microbiology, 2018. Developmental roadmap for antimicrobial susceptibility testing systems
