Alicia Demirjian, Medical Epidemiologist, Antimicrobial Resistance and Prescribing at the UK Health Security Agency, shared a post by British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (BSAC), on LinkedIn, adding:
“Without antibiotics that work, cancer care is neither effective nor safe.
A pleasure to hear powerful testimonies and ways forward at this All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) meeting.
Thank you, as ever, Rebecca Cooper, for your commitment to protecting people from infections, and Rhian Foley for making these discussions happen.
Special thanks to presenters and contributors to the discussion earlier this week. A strong collaboration is needed between people working in, and affected by, the cancer and infection spaces – it’s great to see it burgeoning.
The data I presented feature work by David Eyre, Sarah Walker, Berit Muller-Pebody, Russell Hope, Colin Brown and colleagues as part of our UK Health Security Agency – University of Oxford Health Protection Research Unit.”
Quoting BSAC‘s post:
‘If we truly want better outcomes, we must recognise that surviving cancer also means surviving infection.’
– Angela Monzon, Bowel Cancer Patient.
Yesterday, Dr Rebecca Cooper MP, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), convened a meeting to explore an important but often overlooked issue in cancer care: the impact of infection and AMR on cancer outcomes.
The discussion was prompted by the publication of England’s new National Cancer Plan. While the Plan sets out an ambitious vision for improving cancer outcomes, participants noted that infection and AMR are not referenced, despite their significant impact on cancer treatment, survival and patient experience.
We heard powerful contributions from Angela Monzon, Nveed C., Bob Phillips, Dr. Alicia Demirjian, Iyiola Oladunjoye and Liz Callegari, who explored why infection prevention, infection diagnostics, antimicrobial stewardship and AMR must be recognised as fundamental components of cancer care.
As one speaker put it:
‘Infection control is not separate from cancer care. It is cancer care.’
The APPG will now consider the issues and recommendations raised during the roundtable, including how existing commitments within the National Cancer Plan could be strengthened to further improve outcomes for people with cancer.
Thank you to everyone who attended and contributed to such a thoughtful and constructive discussion, including Dr Danny Chambers MP, Baroness Natalie Bennett and Neil Duncan-Jordan MP.
Read more about the discussion and key themes.”
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