National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance: NMC directs medical colleges to nominate nodal officers

In the letter, the Officer Incharge of NAP-AMR of NMC, Dr. Vijaya Lakshmi Nag has directed the medical colleges to nominate One Nodal Officer, preferably at the level of Professor/ Addl. Professor from any of the Department of Microbiology, Pharmacology, Medicine or Community Medicine for future interaction/ discussions on the subject.

NMC, the apex medical regulator has asked the principals of the medical colleges to share the contact details of the nodal officer in the google form which can be accessed via the link https://bitly/ 3LDcKbN.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that NMC had earlier warned the medical colleges in India regarding the misuse of antimicrobials and had issued an advisory regarding the indiscriminate use of antimicrobials and the development of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) leading to an increase in the incidence of infection and avoidable Morbidity and mortality.

For this purpose, the apex medical regulator had earlier advised all the Heads of the medical colleges for having Hospital Infection Control Committee (HICC) and Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) Committees.

Also Read: NMC Warns Hospitals, Medical Colleges against Antimicrobial Resistance, Issues Advisory

Now, the NMC has notified about the National Action Plan (NAP) on Antimicrobial Resistance.

"Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been recognized as a serious and growing threat to public health globally. The World Health Organization (WHO) has identified AMR as one of the top 10 global public health threats facing humanity. Misuse and overuse of antimicrobials are the main drivers in the development of drug-resistant pathogens," NMC mentioned in the letter.

Pointing out that India had one of the highest burden of bacterial infections, NMC further added that the crude mortality from infectious diseases in India is very high.

Therefore, the apex medical body has informed the heads of the colleges about the National Action Plan and mentioned in the letter, "Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has developed the National Action Plan which needs to be launched across the country so as to bring about an alignment with the Global Action Plan on AMR with a "One Health" approach."

"The NAP-AMR Strategic intervention activity (1.2.1.1; 1.2.1.4 & 4.6.1.1) under NMC, can be accessed at http:/ / www.ncdc.gov.in/ writeReadData / linkimages/ AMR/ File545.pdf," read the letter.

"To operationalize NAP-AMR, medical institutions should be conducting various activities for AMR containment. To generate a common module on this topic, we need information to proceed with the implementation of the plan. To enable this, it is requested, to provide the details of action taken by the Institute in the concerned areas and the information about the same shall be updated through the attached google form latest by 28 Feb, 2022 for which the link is :- https://bitly/ 3LDcKbN," it added.

Asking the institutes to nominate one Nodal Officer, the letter further mentioned, "It is proposed that your Institute may nominate One Nodal Officer, preferably at the level of Professor / Addl. Professor /Associate Professor from any of the Department of Microbiology, Pharmacology, Medicine or Community Medicine for future interaction / discussions on the subject. His/her contact details may be shared with the undersigned in the form provided."

In the letter medical regulator has also given detailed instructions for filling up the Google form.

AIM & OBJECTIVES

1. To Improve awareness and understanding of AMR among Undergraduate, Postgraduate students, and Teaching professionals

i. Activity / Sub activity already going on, in the medical institution (regarding Undergraduate, Postgraduate students, and Teaching Professionals)

ii. Time of Activity (How many times the activity is being conducted in a year?), select the dropdown from the menu.

iii. Activity document to be uploaded in format (Ms Word, Ms Excel or PDF) The concerned activity document to be annexed in the google form as per the format aforementioned.

2. To Improve awareness and understanding of AMR among Allied health professionals

i. Activity / Sub activity already going on, in the medical institution (regarding Allied health professionals)

ii. Time of Activity (How many times the activity is being conducted in a year?). Select the dropdown from the menu. iii. Activity document to be uploaded in format (Ms Word, Ms Excel or PDF) The concerned activity document to be annexed in the google form as per the format aforementioned.

3. Developed any AMR module to bring together the segmented knowledge imparted under different subjects

i. Developed any AMR module to bring together the segmented knowledge imparted under different subjects. Microbiology, Pharmacology, Medicine, Community Medicine (PSM), select the dropdown from the menu.

ii. Module document to be uploaded in format (Ms Word, Ms Excel or PDF) The concerned module document to be annexed in the google form as per the format aforementioned.