As part of activities to mark this year’s Antimicrobial Awareness Week, the Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), Friday, embarked on awareness rally wherein medical practitioners called for increased awareness about the various antimicrobial agents used for the treatment of infections.
The Antimicrobial Awareness Week was organised by the Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), in conjunction with the Departments of Pharmacy, Family Medicine/General practice clinic (GPC), Clinical Pharmacology unit as well as the Association of Resident Doctors with sponsorship from the management of UBTH and Pfizer Pharmaceuticals.
The 2022 Antimicrobial Awareness Week with theme: “Preventing Antimicrobial resistance together,” had in attendance, members of the LOC, Dr Osaigbovo Iriagbonse, Consultant Clinical Microbiologist, Dr Adewole Afolabi Joseph, Head department Family medicine, Pharm Dr Yowin Edit, HoD Pharmacy.
In the awareness rally, medical doctors, pharmacists, nurses and other medical practitioners, walked through major departments and units, UBTH, wherein they enlightened members of the public on the week and the need fore more awareness about the various antimicrobial agents.
Speaking, Dr Igunma Jeremiah, Consultant Clinical Microbiologist and Infection Control Physician, UBTH, said the Antimicrobial Awareness Week is a global event celebrated between 18th and 24th November every year.
According to him, the event is intended to increase awareness about various antimicrobial agents used for the treatment of infections.
He said, “Antibiotics have saved millions of lives, and estimates show that they increase the average human lifespan by 23 years. They continue to be an essential tool in modern medicine. However, the benefits derived from this magic bullet are speedily being eroded by the continual emergence and spread of genes which cause antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
READ ALSO: UBTH Resident Doctors Protest Suspected Assassination Of Colleague
“Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when disease-causing micro-organisms mutate over time, meaning that they are harder to treat because they can resist the drug’s effects even when it is of adequate composition, taken at the appropriate dose, for the correct duration and for the right disease condition. This results in bacterial infections becoming more difficult to treat, or in some cases, impossible.
“AMR is not a problem of the future, it is a present, though sometimes hidden, danger– already at least 700,000 people die annually from drug-resistant infections. By 2050 drug-resistant microbes could lead to ten million deaths annually if appropriate measures are not taken. This silent pandemic must be addressed as a matter of urgency, or the death toll will continue unabated.
“The common reasons why AMR develops and spreads include Antibiotic Misuse (for example patients taking antibiotics when they have a common cold which is viral in origin). Overuse of antibiotics in livestock and fish farming. Lack of clean water and sanitation which encourages the spread of disease-causing germs. Inadequate infection prevention and control, especially in health facilities, and Counterfeit drugs.”
The Consultant Clinical Microbiologist and Infection Control Physician said that preventing antimicrobial resistance requires a concerted effort and collaboration among practitioners of human health, animal husbandry and environmental health, stressing that, “Together, we can avert the catastrophe occasioned by AMR.”