GS Paper III

News Excerpt: 

The Kerala government launches Operation AMRITH (Antimicrobial Resistance Intervention for Total Health) to curb antimicrobial resistance.

Operation AMRITH (Antimicrobial Resistance Intervention for Total Health):

• With Operation AMRITH, the health department of Kerala is on a drive to completely stop the over-the-counter sale of antibiotics without prescriptions by the end of 2024. 
• It aims to conduct surprise raids in retail and medical shops to detect OTC sales of antibiotics.
• The public can also participate in this initiative by reporting any pharmacies selling antibiotics without a prescription to the Drug Control Department.
• The Kerala government was the first state in India to come up with a state action plan on Antimicrobial Resistance, KARSAP, in 2018.

Impact of AMR and global concerns:

• Antimicrobial medicines are the cornerstone of modern medicine. 
• The emergence and spread of drug-resistant pathogens threaten our ability to treat common infections and to perform life-saving procedures, including cancer chemotherapy and caesarean section, hip replacements, organ transplantation and other surgeries.
• In addition, drug-resistant infections impact the health of animals and plants, reduce productivity in farms, and threaten food security.
• AMR has significant costs for both health systems and national economies overall. 
  • For example, it creates a need for more expensive and intensive care, affects the productivity of patients or their caregivers through prolonged hospital stays, and harms agricultural productivity. 
  • The World Bank has estimated that the global increase in healthcare costs is expected to reach up to $1.2 trillion per year by 2050 in a high AMR impact scenario. 
  • In a similar situation, the world will lose 3.8% of its annual gross domestic product (GDP) by 2050.
  • The AMR can cause up to 10 million deaths annually, with the most deaths happening in Asia and Africa.

Challenges of Antimicrobial Resistance in the Indian Healthcare System:

• One of the most significant drivers of AMR is the misuse and overuse of antibiotics.
• Public understanding of AMR remains low in India. Many people do not understand the implications of not finishing a course of antibiotics or using them without necessity, which can lead to bacteria evolving to withstand these medications.
• Infection control measures in healthcare facilities are suboptimal in India, leading to high rates of hospital-acquired infections, which often involve drug-resistant organisms.
• India lacks a robust surveillance system for monitoring AMR, making it difficult to grasp the full extent of the problem and design appropriate interventions. Regulations on antibiotic use are also insufficiently enforced.

Way Forward:

• Implementing OTC regulation by the Kerala government is a positive move, but addressing antimicrobial resistance demands a multifaceted strategy.
• This includes reforms in physicians’ prescribing practices.
• Mandating hospitals to report healthcare-associated infection rates.
• Antimicrobial resistance is a socioeconomic problem. Addressing it requires improving public health infrastructure, sanitation facilities, and governance.
• This would reduce infection transmission and lessen dependence on antibiotics.