Context:
Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) poses a grave threat to human, animal, and environmental health worldwide, including India. Despite advancements in medical sciences, AMR challenges global health progress, with projections of 10 million deaths annually by 2050.
What is Antimicrobial Resistance?
Definition: AMR occurs when microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites evolve to resist antimicrobial drugs, rendering them ineffective.
Impact: AMR complicates treatments, increases healthcare costs, prolongs illnesses, and risks lives globally.
Causes of AMR:
Overuse of Antibiotics: Unregulated sale and over-the-counter availability of antibiotics. Over-prescription for minor or non-bacterial infections.
Underuse or Misuse: Non-adherence to prescribed dosages or courses.
Industrial Agriculture Practices: Antibiotics are used as growth promoters in livestock, fisheries, and poultry. Poor waste management from farms increases AMR in the environment.
Lack of Diagnostic Infrastructure: Inadequate facilities for proper disease diagnosis and treatment.
Inadequate Training: Healthcare providers often lack awareness of rational antibiotic use.
COVID-19 Pandemic Misuse: Rampant and indiscriminate use of antibiotics during the pandemic exacerbated AMR.
India’s Approach to AMR:
National Action Plan (NAP): Launched in 2017, it focuses on rational antibiotic use and AMR surveillance.
AMR Surveillance and Research Network (AMRSN): Established by ICMR in 2013, monitoring resistance patterns across 30 tertiary hospitals.
One Health Approach: Focus on interconnected health across human, animal, and environmental sectors. Collaborative initiatives like Integrated One Health Surveillance Network.
National One Health Mission: Approved in 2022, it targets AMR, zoonotic diseases, and environmental health.
Policy Guidelines: NCDC developed national guidelines for treatment and infection control.
Read more: Global Antibiotic Shortages
