London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

New rapid diagnostic tools are needed to stop the unnecessary use of antibiotics and tackle the global problem of antimicrobial resistance, according to a new UK Government review.  

Led by Lord Jim O'Neill, the review calls for a diagnostic market stimulus to subsidise the purchase of diagnostics and increase both uptake and innovation. It also calls for more research into clinical trials and the economic benefits of diagnostics as well as using an innovation fund to pay for early stage funding into diagnostic research.

The review also welcomes the Longitude Prize, a challenge with a £10m prize fund, to tackle antimicrobial resistance.

Professor Peter Piot, Director of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and Co-Chair of the Longitude Prize Advisory Panel, said: "Just last year antibiotics won the public vote to become the focus of the £10 million Longitude Prize - a challenge of up to five years to find an accurate, affordable, rapid and easy-to-use diagnostic test to improve antibiotic use.

"As the Jim O'Neill report shows, rapid diagnostics are the key but they have to be quick, cheap, accurate and accessible to all health settings if they are to slash the growth of resistance. The race is on to find the solution. We're calling on people from around the globe to work on new ideas to tackle antimicrobial resistance and enter the Longitude Prize."