In order to tackle growing levels of antimicrobial resistance, the challenge set for the Longitude Prize is to invent an affordable, accurate, fast and easy-to-use test for bacterial infections that will allow health professionals worldwide to administer the right antibiotics at the right time.
On average antibiotics add 20 years to each person’s life.
The development of antibiotics has been vital to our survival, yet the rise of antimicrobial resistance is threatening to make them ineffective in the future.
The World Health Organization estimates that antibiotics treatments add an average of 20 years to all of our lives. But in the 80 years since the discovery of penicillin, our overuse of antibiotics has put pressure on bacteria to evolve resistance, leading to the emergence of untreatable superbugs that threaten the basis of modern medicine.
Longitude prize is looking to create an inexpensive, easy-to-use point of care test kit for bacterial infections, which can provide reliable results, and permit a better use of antibiotics, less misdiagnosis, and prescription.
Antibiotics have been a key for our survival, but their effectiveness is in jeopardy due to the rise of antimicrobial resistance. WHO estimates that antibiotics adds twenty years to our life expectency. But, our overuse of antibiotics has led to bacteria’s evolving to be more resistant to them, and the possible evolution into untreatable suberbugs.
To counter this problem, prevent an uncontrollable evolution of bacteria’s, and our antibiotics losing their effectiveness, we need to rethink our use of antibiotics, by promoting targeted treatments and smart clinical decision systems.
Awards:- £ 8 000 000
Deadline:- 29-09-2020
