India needs to curb the overdose of antibiotic drugs as it causes Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR). As per the latest reports, India’s bacterial disease burden is the highest in the World.
And recently WHO identified AMR as one of the top 10 threats to global health in 2019. The list also includes HIV, Ebola, dengue, vaccine hesitancy, air pollution, and climate change.
WHO is sending warning signs to take strict actions to stop the overuse of the antibiotics as this will create damage that can’t be treated and becomes hard to treat common infections like pneumonia, tuberculosis, gonorrhea, and salmonellosis. In India, a large amount of people is suffering from diseases like heart problems, cancer, and their immunity power getting weakened that makes them prone to infections.
India health stats making health organizations worried as 40% of the children are malnourished and having the highest risk of infections plus more and more drug-resistant bacteria are being identified.
It’s not only the concern of people who are taking medicines but the increased use of antibiotics in India, with drugs, has started entering in the food chain and water that simply means drug-resistant bacteria growth is becoming the primary concern.
To keep a check on that, the Union health ministry has formulated the National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (NAP AMR) 2017-21.
According to health officials’ words, the government also working to frame guidelines regarding antibiotic sales, ban or restrict their use as growth enhancers in livestock, and improve prescription audits in hospitals and the medical community.
To identify and address the gaps, some major hospitals like AIIMS and some other prominent hospitals are coordinating measurement of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) — infections acquired in hospitals — and sharing protocols.
A senior director of Max Daycare Oncology, Dr. P K Julka, shared while explaining the implications of AMR, that Cancer patients consume antibiotics to cure respiratory infections and other complications. Normal antibiotics did not work as in most cases because the patients have already been overexposed to it.
According to the doctors, strict action has to be taken on the ground to prevent AMR
