No slacking: On action plans against antimicrobial resistance

News: Lancet recently released its report on the Global Burden of bacterial antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

What are the findings of the Lancet report?

Report states AMR deaths to be around 4.95 million in 2019. It identifies the main reason behind this resistance is pathogens and the pathogen–drug combinations

Bacterial AMR occurs when the drugs used to treat infections become less effective, as a result of the pathogens becoming resistant to the drugs. This is because of indiscriminate use of antibiotics, availability of antibiotics over the counter, poor hygiene and sanitation, use in livestock and agriculture, lack of vaccines and newer antibiotics, and poor infection control practices in hospitals.

What steps did the government introduce to stop AMR-related deaths?

2008 strain of NDM1 enzyme and its backtracking to India served as an alarm bell.
India released its AMR action plan in 2017 and also announced a task force implementation. By 2019, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh had ruled out state action plans. In 2019 India banned the use of Colistin in poultry etc.

What are the problems in controlling AMR-related deaths?
-11 other states are yet to frame their action plants.

– The Chennai declaration, a consortium of doctors against AMR, was formed in 2012 but is yet to take concrete action.

– Scientific publications showed poor hygiene, lax administrative governance, and poor ratio of public-private expenditure as one of the root causes.

What is the way forward?

Government should work to raise the standard of living to provide them accessible and affordable quality health care, besides regulating the sale and use of antibiotics.

Source: This post s based on the article “No slacking: On action plans against antimicrobial resistance ” published in The Hindu on 21st February 2022.