‘Antimicrobial resistance a more severe threat than Covid-19 in coming years’
As disease-causing germs are becoming more and more resistant to lifesaving antibiotics owing to their irrational use, experts yesgterday stressed the need for addressing the issue with highest priority and in a coordinated way.
Despite the coronavirus pandemic marginalising this one of the 10 emerging global threats to public health, the issue should not be overlooked, as it is going to pose a bigger threat than the pandemic in the years to come, they said.
The experts were speaking at a daylong discussion on "Draft National AMR Surveillance Strategy 2020-25" at a hotel in the capital yesterday.
Center for Disease Control (CDC) of the Directorate General of Health Services organised the event marking World AMR [antimicrobial resistance] Awareness Week 2020.
The event involved researchers from different government departments and global development agencies.
AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death, according to WHO.
At the inaugural session, Prof Sayedur Rahman, chairman of the pharmacology at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) presented the keynote.
He spoke of why the AMR in bacteria is a major threat to health and the way out of this global issue.
For nearly a century, bacteria-fighting drugs known as antibiotics helped control and destroy many harmful organisms that can make people sick. But in recent decades, overuse and misuse of antibiotics prompted some strains of bacteria to make a small change in their DNA and become antibiotic-resistant "superbugs", said experts.
Speakers at the event also spoke of how the germs were becoming drug resistant and entering the human body through medication habits and food chain.
Dr Bardan Jung Rana, WHO representative to Bangladesh, said, "Many governments and non-government stakeholders are collaborating to implement activities [strategies], however, more collaboration among developing partners and other stakeholders is needed to make an impact."
Addressing as the chair of the inaugural session, Dr Nathuram Sarkar, director general of Bangladesh Livestock Research Institute (BLRI), said AMR is a more severe threat than Covid-19.
Robert Simpson, FAO representative to Bangladesh, and Prof Dr Nitish Debnath, team lead of the Fleming Fund Country Grant Bangladesh, also spoke at the session, where Dr Shahnila Ferdousi, director of CDC, gave the welcome address.
Later, researchers and experts from the Institute Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), BLRI, and the departments of fisheries and livestock presented papers in two plenary sessions.
Speaking as the moderator of the first session, Prof Dr Sabrina Flora, additional director general of DGHS, highlighted the importance of coordination among departments and stakeholders working on AMR.
Moderating the second session, Dr Mahmudur Rahman, former director of the IEDCR, said, "The AMR issue is very complex and it cannot be overcome soon… Though a lot of studies have been done, their implementation is too slow."
He stressed on adopting mechanism to disseminate updated study findings on the treatment protocol among physicians regularly and effectively.
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