Contributed by: Siddarth David & Dr. Tamhankar
The latest report from the Review
of Antimicrobial Resistance a two-year effort created by Prime Minister
David Cameron, supported by the Wellcome Trust to examine solutions to the rise
of resistance, have highlighted that basic hygiene and improved sanitation can
be a very effective tool in the process. It has indicated how the lack of clean
water and sanitation both create diseases that demand antibiotic use, and also
spread antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
The report highlighted that in just four emerging economies (India, Indonesia, Nigeria and
Brazil), 494 million cases of diarrhoea each year are treated with antibiotics,
a number that could rise to 622 million cases by 2030. If infrastructure
were improved, 60 percent of those courses of antibiotics could be
foregone. The report says that contaminated water also allows bacteria to cycle
between humans and the environment, spinning up the dissemination of resistance
genes.
The Review also found that
persistent neglect of simple tasks such as washing hands is fuelling the spread
of resistance. As few as 30 to 40 % of hospital staff wash their hands as often
as they should and interestingly doctors perform poorer than nurses or
staff who are lower in the hierarchy.
This shows that addressing the
issue of antibiotic resistance is a multi-pronged approach and neglecting basic
public health issues like clean water, safe sanitation and hygiene practice can
play major role in reducing antibiotic use and therefore resistance. We need
India need to also deal with the these public health issues in the efforts to
curb antibiotic resistance.
