Fighting infection

sir – We support the call by the all-party parliamentary group on antibiotics for Boris Johnson to appoint a Cabinet minister with the sole responsibility of addressing drug-resistant infection and pandemic prevention and preparedness.

As representatives or associates of some of the world’s leading infection specialists, we think it is time the policy approach to pandemics (in this case, Sars-cov-2 leading to Covid-19) was combined with efforts to contain drug-resistant infection (both of which are in the World Health Organisation’s top 10 threats to global health).

We welcome the decision to appoint a head of pandemic preparedness to the Civil Service. But the scale and urgency of this challenge requires leadership and accountability – as well as an elected representative able to work across all government departments and all areas of health and science.

Factory farming, for example, is a major focus for those working to prevent drug-resistance, and is considered one of the most likely causes of the next influenza pandemic, while access to water, sanitation and hygiene is a first line of defence against the spread of infections.

By acting now, the Government can show global leadership in an area that has the potential to prove more catastrophic, and more difficult to solve, than the current pandemic. Professor Philip Howard

President, British Society of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy

Lord O’neill of Gatley (Crossbench) Chairman, Review on Antimicrobial Resistance

Dr Manica Balasegaram FRCP Executive Director, Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership Vickie Hawkins

Executive Director, Médecins Sans Frontières UK and seven others; see telegraph.co.uk