Unless the people are told how to use these life-saving drugs, antibiotic abuse will continue: KARSAP nodal officer

Kerala, as part of its antimicrobial resistance strategic action plan (KARSAP), is launching a mega campaign on Monday to create awareness of antibiotics among the public.

The campaign, which is being kicked off to time with World Antibiotic Awareness Week (WAAW) from November 18 to 24, is being launched as a key activity under KARSAP, so that the State becomes “antibiotic literate” by 2020.

This campaign will also be a crucial component of the Aardram being launched on Monday.

Health issue

“When we drew up the framework for KARSAP last year, creation of public awareness about the magnitude of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) was identified as the State’s first strategic priority. AMR is not a problem that we can tackle by just addressing doctors. Unless the general public, including schoolchildren, are given the basic information of antibiotics and are taught when and how these life-saving drugs should be used, antibiotic abuse will continue. We are starting our campaign to engage the public on AMR as a grave public health issue and what they can do to prevent it,” K.L. Sarada Devi, Head of Microbiology, Thiruvananthapuram Medical College and the State Nodal Officer for KARSAP, said.

Antibiotic resistance

WAAW aims to increase global awareness of antibiotic resistance and to encourage best practices among the general public, health workers and policy makers to avoid the further emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance.

Even though antibiotics have a crucial role in modern medicine, the persistent overuse and abuse of antibiotics for human and animal health has led to the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance.

What it really means

Antibiotic resistance does not imply that human body develops resistance against antibiotics.

Rather, it means that that the microbes or organisms which cause a disease have developed resistance to the drugs or antibiotics used to treat them.

“Our focus will be on creating adequate educational messages so that people understand how they might be unknowingly contributing towards AMR and teach them about the rational use of antibiotics. We want to give them specific messages about the changes in behaviour that they have to adopt,” she said.

Rational use

KARSAP envisages that in the next one year, the State should have total “antibiotic literacy” and that every one, right down to local self government bodies and grass roots-level health workers, are aware of KARSAP, the rational use of antibiotics and the basic infection prevention and control practices.