An overview of the Specialist Advisory Committee on Antimicrobial Resistance (SACAR)

In 1969, the Swann Committee reported that there was a significant problem with regard to antimicrobial (mis)use in both human and veterinary practice and recommended that the UK Government establish a committee that should have overall responsibility for the whole field of antimicrobial use. This view was reiterated in 1997-8 by the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, under the Chairmanship of Lord Soulsby of Swaffham Prior. In 2001 such a group, the Specialist Advisory Committee on Antimicrobial Resistance (SACAR), was finally launched. SACAR encompassed representatives from human and veterinary medicine and involved many branches of public health, pharmacy, nursing, bacteriology and virology. It met three times a year and has advised ministers and the Chief Medical Officer on current and emerging problems by providing expert advice to inform local and national policy on antimicrobial resistance. This Supplement provides an overview of the work of SACAR and its Subgroups.