Health Minister of Kerala Veena George announced that a campaign against the misuse of antibiotics has commenced in all the state’s 14 districts. This campaign is to confront antimicrobial resistance (AMR) which is one of the top global public health and development threats as the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials in humans, animals and plants are the main drivers in the development of drug-resistant pathogens. Kerala has also decided that antibiotics will have to be given in a blue cover and a doctor’s prescription will be compulsory for people when they buy them from medical shops.
The door-to-door campaign of health officials in Ernakulam focuses on bringing awareness of the indiscriminate use of antibiotics. The campaign in Ernakulam is being carried out by 2,257 trained health workers. The team has also covered areas where migrant workers are staying and the awareness class was conducted in their mother tongues.
The awareness programme points out that no one should take antibiotics without a doctor prescribing it and the entire course prescribed by the doctor has to be completed. The people are also told that antibiotics should not be shared between people and utmost care has to be taken while disposing of old antibiotics. What is antimicrobial resistance? Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites evolve to resist the effects of medications that are made to kill or inhibit them which renders standard treatments ineffective.
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