Resistant bacteria: Time to give up on antibiotics

Speakers stress need to improve disease surveillance techniques

KARACHI: An extensive use of antibiotics prevails in Pakistan and we need to curb the trend, said Dr Rumana Hasan.

She was giving a situational analysis of the Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR) in Pakistan at a symposium titled ‘Emerging Threats in Infectious Diseases’ at Aga Khan University (AKU) on Tuesday. She shared the findings of the World Health Organisation, which state that high resistance is found in bacteria, particularly in urinary tract infections and pneumonia.

“The [United States] Center for Disease Control [and Prevention] estimate that 50 per cent of the antibiotics used are either not needed or not optimally prescribed,” she said. “In Pakistan, too, there is an extensive overuse of antibiotics that needs to be controlled. In the last 30 years, no new antibiotics have been introduced in the world. This is why we have resistant bacteria now.”

Citing AMR as a global threat, she said cross-sectional action is needed on part of the government and society by filling in the gaps between surveillance and methodologies.

According to the speakers at the symposium, Pakistan is facing threats from many possible infectious diseases. What is more alarming is the proposition that these diseases include those other than the dengue and Ebola viruses prevalent across the world.

AKU pathology and microbiology associate professor Dr Erum Khan said that Pakistan is a hyperendemic country vis-à-vis dengue. “During 2005 and 2013, we saw that the dengue arbovirus spread from Karachi all the way to [Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa] K-P”. According to her, other potential viruses, such as chikungunya and yellow fever, are prevalent in the Asia-Pacific region. She added that it is only researchers in Pakistan who are not concerned about the alarming trend.

Talking about the issues of disease surveillance in Pakistan, Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training Programme, Pakistan, resident adviser Dr Rana Jawed Asghar said that it is highly fragmented and is dependent on external funds. “We can’t have a public health response unless we have epidemic intelligence surveillance,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 25^th, 2015.