World Health day is celebrated on 7th April every year to mark the founding of WHO. The Organization selects a key health issue and encourages people from all ages and all backgrounds to hold events that highlight the significance of the issue for good health and well being. Antimicrobial resistance is not a new problem but one that is becoming more dangerous. Urgent and consolidated efforts are needed to avoid regressing to the pre-antibiotic era. In the light of these, the WHO has selected Combat Antimicrobial Resistance as the theme for World Health Day-7th April 2011.
What is antimicrobial resistance?
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is resistance of a microorganism to an antimicrobial medicine to which it was previously sensitive.
Why is antimicrobial
resistance a global concern?
• AMR microorganisms often fail to respond to the standard treatment, resulting in prolonged illness and greater risk of death.
• AMR hampers the control of infectious diseases by reducing the effectiveness of treatment because patients remain infectious for longer, thus potentially spreading resistant microorganisms to others.
• AMR threatens a return to the pre-antibiotic era as many infectious diseases risk becoming uncontrollable and could derail the progress made towards reaching the targets of the health-related United Nations Millennium Development Goals set for 2015.
• AMR increases the costs of health care:-
When infections become resistant to first-line medicines, more expensive therapies must be used. The longer duration of illness and treatment, often in hospitals, increases health-care costs and the financial burden to families and societies.
• AMR jeopardizes health-care gains to society without effective antimicrobials for care and prevention of infections, the success of treatments such as organ transplantation, cancer chemotherapy and major surgery would be compromised.
• AMR threatens health security, and damages trade and economies:-
The growth of global trade and travel allows resistant microorganisms to be spread rapidly to distant countries and continents.
Facts on antimicrobial resistance
• About 440 000 new cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) emerge annually, causing atleast 150 000 deaths. Extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) has been reported in 64 countries to date.
• Resistance to earlier generation antimalarial medicines such as chloroquine and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine is widespread in most malaria-endemic countries. Falciparum malaria parasites resistant to artemisinins are emerging in south-East Asia; infections show delayed clearance after the start of treatment (indicating resistance).
• A high percentage of hospital-acquired infections are caused by highly resistant bacteria such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci.
• Resistance is an emerging concern for treatment of HIV infection, following the rapid expansion in access to antiretroval medicines in recent years; national surveys are underway to detect and monitor resistance.
• Ciprofloxacin is the only antibiotic currently recommended by W.H.O. for the management of bloody diarrhea due to Shigella organisms.But rapidly increasing prevalence of resistance to ciprofloxacin is reducing the options for safe and efficacious treatment of shigellosis, particularly for children.
• AMR has become a serious problem for treatment of gonorrhoea (caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae), involving even “last-line” oral cephalosporins,and is increasing in prevalence worldwide.
• New resistance mechanisms, such as the beta-lactamase NDM-1, have emerged among several gram-negative bacilli. This can render powerful antibiotics, which are often the last defence against multi-resistant strains of bacteria, ineffective.
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, resistant microorganism can emerge and spread.
Underlying factors that drive AMR include:
• Inadequate national commitment to a comprehensive and coordinated response, ill-defined accountability and insufficient engagement of communities;
• Weak or absent surveillance and monitoring systems;
• Inadequate systems to ensure quality and uninterrupted supply of medicines
• Inappropriate and irrational use of medicines, including in animal husbandry:
• Poor infection prevention and control practices;
• Depleted arsenals of diagnostics, medicines and vaccines as well as insufficient research and development on new products.
Combat drug resistance:
no action today, no cure tomorrow
The emergence of AMR is a complex problem driven by many interconnected factors; single, isolated interventions have little impact. A global and national multi-sectoral response is urgently needed to combat the growing threat of AMR.
WHO’s response
WHO is engaged in guiding the response to AMR through :
• Policy guidance, support for surveillance, technical assistance, knowledge generation and partnerships, including through disease prevention and control programmes;
• Essential medicines quality, supply and rational use;
• Infection prevention and control;
• Patient safety;
• Laboratory quality assurance
WHO has selected combating antimicrobial resistance as the theme for World Health Day 2011. On this day, WHO issues an international call for concerted action to halt the spread of antimicrobial resistance and recommends a six-point policy package for governments.
WHO calls on all key stakeholders, including policy-makers and planners, the public and patients, practitioners and prescribers, pharmacists and dispensers, and the pharmaceutical industry, to act and take responsibility for combating antimicrobial resistance.
(Reproduced from WHO/Media Centre)
What is antimicrobial resistance?
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is resistance of a microorganism to an antimicrobial medicine to which it was previously sensitive.
Why is antimicrobial
resistance a global concern?
• AMR microorganisms often fail to respond to the standard treatment, resulting in prolonged illness and greater risk of death.
• AMR hampers the control of infectious diseases by reducing the effectiveness of treatment because patients remain infectious for longer, thus potentially spreading resistant microorganisms to others.
• AMR threatens a return to the pre-antibiotic era as many infectious diseases risk becoming uncontrollable and could derail the progress made towards reaching the targets of the health-related United Nations Millennium Development Goals set for 2015.
• AMR increases the costs of health care:-
When infections become resistant to first-line medicines, more expensive therapies must be used. The longer duration of illness and treatment, often in hospitals, increases health-care costs and the financial burden to families and societies.
• AMR jeopardizes health-care gains to society without effective antimicrobials for care and prevention of infections, the success of treatments such as organ transplantation, cancer chemotherapy and major surgery would be compromised.
• AMR threatens health security, and damages trade and economies:-
The growth of global trade and travel allows resistant microorganisms to be spread rapidly to distant countries and continents.
Facts on antimicrobial resistance
• About 440 000 new cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) emerge annually, causing atleast 150 000 deaths. Extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) has been reported in 64 countries to date.
• Resistance to earlier generation antimalarial medicines such as chloroquine and sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine is widespread in most malaria-endemic countries. Falciparum malaria parasites resistant to artemisinins are emerging in south-East Asia; infections show delayed clearance after the start of treatment (indicating resistance).
• A high percentage of hospital-acquired infections are caused by highly resistant bacteria such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci.
• Resistance is an emerging concern for treatment of HIV infection, following the rapid expansion in access to antiretroval medicines in recent years; national surveys are underway to detect and monitor resistance.
• Ciprofloxacin is the only antibiotic currently recommended by W.H.O. for the management of bloody diarrhea due to Shigella organisms.But rapidly increasing prevalence of resistance to ciprofloxacin is reducing the options for safe and efficacious treatment of shigellosis, particularly for children.
• AMR has become a serious problem for treatment of gonorrhoea (caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae), involving even “last-line” oral cephalosporins,and is increasing in prevalence worldwide.
• New resistance mechanisms, such as the beta-lactamase NDM-1, have emerged among several gram-negative bacilli. This can render powerful antibiotics, which are often the last defence against multi-resistant strains of bacteria, ineffective.
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, resistant microorganism can emerge and spread.
Underlying factors that drive AMR include:
• Inadequate national commitment to a comprehensive and coordinated response, ill-defined accountability and insufficient engagement of communities;
• Weak or absent surveillance and monitoring systems;
• Inadequate systems to ensure quality and uninterrupted supply of medicines
• Inappropriate and irrational use of medicines, including in animal husbandry:
• Poor infection prevention and control practices;
• Depleted arsenals of diagnostics, medicines and vaccines as well as insufficient research and development on new products.
Combat drug resistance:
no action today, no cure tomorrow
The emergence of AMR is a complex problem driven by many interconnected factors; single, isolated interventions have little impact. A global and national multi-sectoral response is urgently needed to combat the growing threat of AMR.
WHO’s response
WHO is engaged in guiding the response to AMR through :
• Policy guidance, support for surveillance, technical assistance, knowledge generation and partnerships, including through disease prevention and control programmes;
• Essential medicines quality, supply and rational use;
• Infection prevention and control;
• Patient safety;
• Laboratory quality assurance
WHO has selected combating antimicrobial resistance as the theme for World Health Day 2011. On this day, WHO issues an international call for concerted action to halt the spread of antimicrobial resistance and recommends a six-point policy package for governments.
WHO calls on all key stakeholders, including policy-makers and planners, the public and patients, practitioners and prescribers, pharmacists and dispensers, and the pharmaceutical industry, to act and take responsibility for combating antimicrobial resistance.
(Reproduced from WHO/Media Centre)
World Health Day 7th April 2011
Standing on the threshold of World Health Day and in twenty first century, one can be really proud of the immense achievements in the field of health. Many inventions have brought about this change. The discovery of the penicillin, the life saving drug that marked an epoch in the history of mankind is one such instance. Mitigation measures for many diseases are also worthy of praise and appreciation. But along with these accomplishments, major concerns which cast a shadow of insecurity have also cropped up in the recent past. Incidents of threats like swine flu, modern hectic lifestyle, and poor eating habits all by themselves herald a future that’s threatening human health.
We are right now living in the post antibiotic era, when due to overuse of antibiotics has resulted into drug resistance. Hence we have to explore alternative ways of medication. India’s age old heritage of Ayurveda and Yoga offer us the opportunity to deal with the situation. In collaboration with the Department of Ayush, Ministry of Health an d Family Welfare, Government of India, the society is running a course on Health Promotion through Ayurveda and Yoga,. It is a proud endeavor towards complete health for the modern age people.
World Health Day is an apt occasion to highlight the contribution of India Red Cross Society in the field of health and care. Health is one of the priority areas of the RC strategy 2020 where not only do we provide the healthcare but render health education and preventive measures through awareness campaigns for encountering endemics and epidemics. As per as the IRCS Strategic Development plan 2009-12 health programmes are community based, focusing on primary health and care with emphasis on disease prevention, health promotion, prompt response and awareness during public health crisis.
Increased life expectancy, unstructured lifestyles, poor nutrition has led to the outburst of psycho-somatic diseases like diabetes, hypertension, obesity, depression, etc. IRCS understands the gravity of the circumstances and work towards diminishing the prevalence of health problem. The Society is contributing its bit for achieving the Millennium Development Goals of better health for everyone.
I am convinced that alignment of future strategies to serve a common purpose would provide us with optimum success. Let’s pool our resources and efforts to minimize the suffering caused by diseases by channelising power of humanity.
We are right now living in the post antibiotic era, when due to overuse of antibiotics has resulted into drug resistance. Hence we have to explore alternative ways of medication. India’s age old heritage of Ayurveda and Yoga offer us the opportunity to deal with the situation. In collaboration with the Department of Ayush, Ministry of Health an d Family Welfare, Government of India, the society is running a course on Health Promotion through Ayurveda and Yoga,. It is a proud endeavor towards complete health for the modern age people.
World Health Day is an apt occasion to highlight the contribution of India Red Cross Society in the field of health and care. Health is one of the priority areas of the RC strategy 2020 where not only do we provide the healthcare but render health education and preventive measures through awareness campaigns for encountering endemics and epidemics. As per as the IRCS Strategic Development plan 2009-12 health programmes are community based, focusing on primary health and care with emphasis on disease prevention, health promotion, prompt response and awareness during public health crisis.
Increased life expectancy, unstructured lifestyles, poor nutrition has led to the outburst of psycho-somatic diseases like diabetes, hypertension, obesity, depression, etc. IRCS understands the gravity of the circumstances and work towards diminishing the prevalence of health problem. The Society is contributing its bit for achieving the Millennium Development Goals of better health for everyone.
I am convinced that alignment of future strategies to serve a common purpose would provide us with optimum success. Let’s pool our resources and efforts to minimize the suffering caused by diseases by channelising power of humanity.
(Background Note Issued By The Indian Red Cross Society, National Headquarters, New Delhi)
Dr. Imtimeren Jamir
Principal Director,
Directorate of Health and Family Welfare
Nagaland:KOhima
Principal Director,
Directorate of Health and Family Welfare
Nagaland:KOhima
