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Tuesday Volume 612 5 July 2016 No. 20 HOUSE OF COMMONS OFFICIAL REPORT PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES (HANSARD) Tuesday 5 July 2016 © Parliamentary Copyright House of Commons 2016 This publication may be reproduced under the terms of the Open Parliament licence, which is published at www.parliament.uk/site-information/copyright/. 725 5 JULY 2016 726 has been in contact with the Department, and we are in House of Commons the process of arranging a meeting to discuss reactive oxygen technology in the coming weeks. My ministerial Tuesday 5 July 2016 colleague the Under-Secretary of State for Life Sciences has indicated that he would also be happy to have such a meeting. The House met at half-past Eleven o’clock Maggie Throup: I recently hosted a parliamentary PRAYERS drop-in session to highlight the benefits of C-reactive protein testing as a way of reducing the number of antibiotics inappropriately prescribed in primary care. [MR SPEAKER in the Chair] Will the Minister agree to look again at the case for rolling out CRP testing as standard across primary care as part of the Government’s strategy to tackle antimicrobial Oral Answers to Questions resistance? Jane Ellison: My hon. Friend is right to champion these new technologies. In fact, the Department has HEALTH already invested in research into CRP. We look forward to seeing what that brings and, in due course, to seeing how it might move forward. It is very much already on The Secretary of State was asked— our radar. Review on Antimicrobial Resistance Andrew Gwynne (Denton and Reddish) (Lab): There is an impending public health issue in this regard, not 1. Andrea Jenkyns (Morley and Outwood) (Con): least with strains of gonorrhoea, for example, that are What plans the Government have to lead the international starting to show resistance to antibiotics. A number of response to the recommendations of the final report of doctors are incredibly concerned about this. What more the Review on Antimicrobial Resistance, published in can be done to incentivise research and development to May 2016. [905653] ensure that this public health concern does not become a public health crisis? 16. Maggie Throup (Erewash) (Con): What plans the Government have to lead the international response to the recommendations of the final report of the Review Jane Ellison: The hon. Gentleman, who knows a on Antimicrobial Resistance, published in May 2016. great deal about these matters, is right. Incentivising discovery is absolutely at the heart of the O’Neill review. [905668] O’Neill has made a series of recommendations about The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health unblocking the drugs pipeline, and we will respond to (Jane Ellison): The O’Neill AMR review is galvanising that in full. It is a critical issue. In the meantime, global awareness, as I have seen for myself, and it is conservation of the antibiotics we have and sensible greatly to the Prime Minister’s credit that he showed the prescribing is critical to making sure that, as the hon. foresight to commission it. The UK continues to play a Gentleman says, drug-resistant strains of gonorrhoea, global leadership role on antimicrobial resistance. We for example, do not take hold. co-sponsored the World Health Organisation’s 2015 global action plan on AMR, we created the Fleming Chris Leslie (Nottingham East) (Lab/Co-op): This is fund to help poorer countries to tackle drug resistance, an incredibly important issue on which I urge the Minister and we are now championing action, including taking to communicate with the public more effectively, because forward the O’Neill review’s recommendations, through inappropriate use of antibiotics could have severe effects. the United Nations, the G7, and the G20. Some of the medical interventions that are reliant on antibiotics, whether gut surgery, joint replacements, Andrea Jenkyns: I recently met biotech firm Matoke caesarean sections or chemotherapies, could become Holdings, which has developed a new technology—reactive too dangerous to perform if we do not get this right. oxygen technology. It has found that this technology forms the basis of a whole new generation of antibiotics Jane Ellison: That is exactly right. Things we take for that has been proven to combat multi-resistant bacteria, granted now could become risky procedures again. including MRSA. This is an incredibly exciting Globally, old diseases could make a comeback because development. Will my hon. Friend and her team agree of drug resistance—diseases such as TB which, around to meet Matoke Holdings to hear about the new technology the world, people are winning the battle against. This is and the pace at which it has developed? What are the why it is so important to pay tribute to the Prime Government doing to support research into new antibiotics? Minister’s foresight in commissioning the independent review and taking this issue global. The Government, Jane Ellison: My hon. Friend will be aware that a key along with the chief medical officer, are championing focus of the O’Neill review was how to incentivise the this at an international level, but, at the same time, we development of new antimicrobials. It is scary to think are not resting closer to home, where we are working that there has not been a new class of antibiotics for with GPs and so on to deal with the prescribing issue. some decades now. The Government are funding an However, it is a big challenge and the hon. Gentleman is extensive AMR research programme. Matoke Holdings right to highlight it. 727 Oral Answers5 JULY 2016 Oral Answers 728 David Tredinnick (Bosworth) (Con): Is my hon. Friend in antibiotic prescribing following guidance given to aware that there is strong evidence that herbal medicine GPs, when will the Target antibiotics toolkit be fully can help treat conditions currently treated by antibiotics, implemented across all CCGs in England? but there is a desperate need for more research? Is she also aware that homeopathic medicine can do the same, Jane Ellison: Public Health England is doing a huge particularly with upper respiratory tract infections, and amount of work on this. There has been a very welcome that homeopathic treatments are now the second largest drop in prescribing in the last year and that appears in medical system in the world, according to the World the data available for this year. That gives us encouragement. Health Organisation? Of course, 79% of antibiotic prescribing occurs outside hospital, so my hon. Friend is right to highlight general Jane Ellison: The Government are always interested practices. I draw his attention to Public Health England’s in anything that can be proven to be cost-effective and Fingertips portal, which allows both providers and efficacious. commissioners to assess how they are doing compared with other areas locally. That is allowing us to see where Ms Diane Abbott (Hackney North and Stoke Newington) we have particular problems. It varies around the country (Lab): Millions of people around the world are dying and Public Health England is leading the action being annually from resistant infections. In the light of that taken in that regard. and the positive correlation between antibiotic resistance rates and antibiotic consumption, urgent action needs Chris Evans (Islwyn) (Lab/Co-op): The growth of to be taken. What steps and cross-departmental work is antibiotic resistance is a massive problem worldwide, as the Minister taking to address the findings of the Review the Minister knows. No new antibiotics have been classified on Antimicrobial Resistance and to reduce the unnecessary for more than 25 years. This is a real problem, as use of antimicrobials in agriculture? antibiotic resistance increases. What are the Government doing to address the issue? Jane Ellison: There is consensus on the importance of this issue. It is worth highlighting the work that the Government are doing internationally, through the creation Jane Ellison: As I have said, it was our Prime Minister of the Fleming fund, in which we are investing £265 million, who commissioned the independent O’Neill review, showing to help poorer countries to tackle drug resistance and to astonishing foresight, and that review is now galvanising make sure that we have proper monitoring systems in the discussion. I was at the World Health Assembly in place. Without a baseline to understand where we are Geneva in May, and the review was the talk of Geneva. even starting from, it is very difficult. We will respond Lord O’Neill presented it to many delegations from more fully to all the issues highlighted by the hon. Lady around the world and we now need to move forward. As when we respond formally to the O’Neill review, but it well as working on human health, we are also looking goes without saying that we are trying to take this work to work with animal health organisations, as we take forward internationally and we are working towards forward the very important recommendations on further meetings at the United Nations this autumn. prescribing and the use of antibiotics as growth stimulators. Target Antibiotics Toolkit NHS Services for EU Nationals and UK Citizens Abroad 2. Chris Green (Bolton West) (Con): What assessment his Department has made of the uptake of the Target 3. Martyn Day (Linlithgow and East Falkirk) (SNP): antibiotics toolkit among NHS commissioners and GPs. If he will make an assessment of the potential effect of [905654] the UK leaving the EU on the availability of NHS services for (a) EU nationals living, studying and working The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health in the UK and (b) UK citizens abroad. [905655] (Jane Ellison): Continuing with the same important theme, it is excellent to see Parliament taking such a The Secretary of State for Health (Mr Jeremy Hunt): close interest in antibiotic resistance.