What is antimicrobial resistance?
- Antimicrobial resistance
(AMR) is resistance of a microorganism to an antimicrobial medicine to
which it was previously sensitive.
- Resistant organisms
(they include bacteria, viruses and some parasites) are able to withstand
attack by antimicrobial medicines, such as antibiotics, antivirals, and
antimalarials, so that standard treatments become ineffective and
infections persist and may spread to others.
- AMR is a consequence of
the use, particularly the misuse, of antimicrobial medicines and develops
when a microorganism mutates or acquires a resistance gene.
Why is antimicrobial resistance a
global concern?
- AMR
kills,
- AMR
hampers the control of infectious diseases
- AMR
threatens a return to the pre-antibiotic era
- AMR
increases the costs of health care
- AMR
threatens health security, and damages trade and economies
- AMR
jeopardizes health-care gains to society
What drives antimicrobial resistance?
Inappropriate and irrational use of medicines provides favourable
conditions for resistant microorganisms to emerge and spread. For example, when
patients do not take the full course of a prescribed antimicrobial or when poor
quality antimicrobials are used, resistant microorganisms can emerge and
spread.
Facts on antimicrobial resistance
About 440 000 new cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis
(MDR-TB) emerge annually, causing at least 150 000 deaths. Extensively
drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) has been reported in 64 countries to dat
What is Chennai
Declaration on AMR ?
- A Roadmap to Tackle the Challenge of Antimicrobial
Resistance - A Joint meeting of Medical Societies in India" was
organized as a pre-conference symposium of the 2 nd annual conference of the Clinical Infectious Disease Society (CIDSCON 2012) at
Chennai on 24 th August.
- This was the first ever meeting of medical
societies in India on issue of tackling resistance, with a plan to
formulate a road map to tackle the global challenge of antimicrobial
resistance from the Indian perspective.
- most medical societies in India, eminent policy
makers from both central and state governments, representatives of World
Health Organization, National Accreditation Board of Hospitals, Medical
Council of India, Drug Controller General of India, and Indian Council of
Medical Research along with well-known dignitaries in the Indian medical
field..
- The intention was to gain a broad consensus and range of
opinions to guide formation of the road map. The ethos of the meeting was
very much not to look back but rather to look forward and make joint
efforts to tackle the menace of antibiotic resistance. The Chennai Declaration will be submitted to
all stake holders.
Some major recommendations made in the
Declaration include
- formulation
of an effective national policy to control the rising trend of
antimicrobial resistance,
- a
ban on the over-the-counter sale of antibiotics, and
- changes
in the medical education curriculum to include training on antibiotic
usage and infection control.
- setting up of a National Task Force to guide and
supervise the regional and State infection control committees.
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‘The Chennai Declaration: A roadmap to tackle
the challenge of antimicrobial resistance’ published in the latest edition
of Indian Journal of Cancer has recommended that
(The paper was drafted at the pre-conference symposium of the
second annual conference of the Clinical Infectious Disease Society (CIDSCON)
held in Chennai in August.)
- an Infection Control Team (ICT) be made mandatory in all
hospitals.
- Regulatory authorities and accreditation agencies such
as the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and ISO must insist on a
functioning ICT during the licensing and accreditation process
- The Medical Council of India should introduce one-week
antibiotic stewardship and infection control training in the third, fourth
and final year of MBBS and two-week training at the PG level.
- the setting up of a National Task Force to guide and supervise the
regional and State infection control committees
- National Accreditation Board for Hospitals &
Healthcare Providers (NABH) insist on strict implementation of hospital
antibiotic and infection control policy, during hospital accreditation and
re-accreditation processes.
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Most recent
news
Support Chennai Declaration on
antimicrobial resistance: U.K. report
- The annual report identifies antimicrobial
resistance as a cross-societal and, therefore,
cross-governmental issue that encompasses both a market failure to produce
new antibiotics and the need for better antibiotic stewardship.
- It also highlights the need for
international action on antimicrobial resistance for which the U.K. government
is well placed to lobby.
- It calls upon the nations to take up the
issue at G8, G20, Commonwealth, and other groups.
