A panel discussion at Healthcare Senate 2017 highlights that antibiotic resistance can have devastating consequences and stress on the need for an immediate action plan to deal with the problem
Infection control experts congregated at Healthcare Senate 2017 highlighted that the world will experience an antibiotic apocalypse by 2050 if AMR is not tackled on an urgent basis. The panel comprising experts such as Dr Clive Fernandes, Group Clinical Director, Wockhardt Hospitals & JCI Consultant at Joint Commission International, Dr Selwyn Colaco, COO, Cytecare Cancer Hospitals, Dr Nandakumar Jairam, Chairman, CEO and GMD Columbia Asia hospitals, Dr Subramanian Swaminathan, Infection Control Expert, Global Hospitals and Sumit Marwah, CEO and Director, Dispoline India, raised an alarm on the overuse of antibiotics and highlighted that the lack of governance and injudicious prescription leads to antibiotic resistance.
Regulations in this regard were introduced only in the year 2007 when Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) raised an alarm on the rise in AMR and even though substantial efforts have been taken, a comprehensive roadmap along with standardisation is yet to be devised. Elaborating on the way forward, panelists pointed out the need for widespread public awareness and patient education which will be a major step towards curbing AMR. They also recommended that though the guidelines are formulated, they need to be monitored. The other suggested measures were training, educating and awareness programmes through media and CSR campaigns to stop the advance of AMR. They also said that medical students should be trained to avoid prescription of antibiotics. Experts came to a common consensus that a fear-based medicine approach is a major hindrance in tackling AMR. Learnings can also be adopted from countries like Australia and New Zealand, which are very disciplined with 40 per cent of patients being treated without drugs.
Experts advised that the war against antimicrobial resistance need to be fought on multiple levels. AMR needs to be effectively measured across the nation to effectively manage it. The emphasis was also on collaborative efforts from the management, practitioners and the regulatory bodies to create a to prevent the apocalypse.