Overview
- The Fleming Initiative publicly launched the Keep antibiotics in play campaign on Friday with swimmers Rebecca Adlington, Alice Tai and ex-rugby star Matt Dawson and with funding and support from GSK.
- The campaign foregrounds personal stories of antibiotics saving lives, including Dawson’s son Sami, who had bacterial meningitis and spent two weeks in intensive care, and Adlington, who recovered rapidly from sepsis after surgery in 2022.
- It urges four simple actions to slow resistance: take antibiotics only when prescribed, follow the full course, never save or share leftovers, and follow professional medical advice.
- Coverage cites public-health data that resistance already causes more than one million deaths a year and warns that nearly 40 million additional lives could be lost between 2025 and 2050 without action.
- Organisers say the drive aims to close public knowledge gaps—surveys find low awareness that antibiotics treat bacteria not viruses—and to protect antibiotics needed for surgery, cancer care and childbirth while boosting support for research and stewardship.