Use antibiotics judiciously: IMA, API organize World Antimicrobial awareness week

During the World Antimicrobial awareness week organized by doctors under the umbrella of IMA and API from November 18 to November 24, doctors provided valuable information and suggestion regarding the indiscriminate use of antibiotics. Both the doctors' bodies also released pamphlets to educate the people on the World Antimicrobial week celebrations.

The awareness week was observed in the presence of IMA district secretary Dr G Venkat Reddy, API Karimnagar secretary Dr Sesha Shailaja, Treasurer Dr Chaitanya Reddy, FOGSI leader Dr Kolluri Radha, Pediatrician Dr Kolluri Ramesh, Neonatologist Dr Kacham Sivakumar and Dr L Ravikanth.

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Speaking to Telangana Today on Thursday, IMA district president Dr P Ramkiran said, "The purpose of observing the awareness week was to increase awareness of global antimicrobial resistance and encourage best practices among the public and policy-makers to avoid the further emergence and spread of drug-resistant infections."

Stressing the need to bring in a special law to check the over-the-counter purchase of medicines, Senior Physician Dr Raghuraman told the daily that people should purchase drugs only after a prescription by qualified doctors and use antibiotics judiciously. Anti-microbial resistance made it difficult to treat common infections and accelerates the rate of infection. The use of antibiotics in poultry and fisheries should also be discouraged, he added.

Meanwhile, Dr Sesha Shailaja told Hindu Dayashankar that anti-microbial resistance is one of the biggest threats to human and animal health and it occurs when microorganisms such as bacteria become resistant to anti-microbial medicines such as antibiotics.

According to World Health Organization (WHO), antibiotic resistance is rising to dangerously high levels in all parts of the world. New resistance mechanisms are emerging and spreading globally, threatening the ability to treat common infectious diseases. Antibiotic resistance is accelerated by the misuse and overuse of antibiotics and poor infection prevention and control. Moreover, a growing number of infections such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, gonorrhoea, and salmonellosis are becoming harder to treat as the antibiotics used to treat them become less effective.