•Antimicrobial Resistance occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death.
•As microbes evolve and become resistant, antimicrobial treatments are rendered less effective.
Image: OZONE
For decades antibiotics have contributed to the reduction of infectious diseases in humans, animals and plants, saving lives and increasing productivity.
A new report by United Nations Environment Programme now shows that their effectiveness is now in jeopardy.
The report, Environmental Dimensions of Antimicrobial Resistance, that was released during the just-ended UN Environment Assembly in Gigiri, shows that the threat of diseases, pandemics and their environmental dimensions have not been taken seriously enough.
“The Covid-19 pandemic is a wake-up call to better understand and improve all areas of preparedness for and prevention of infectious diseases, including their environmental dimensions,” part of the report says.
The report says the lack of preparedness cannot be allowed to happen again.
Scientists say that it's much more likely the Coronavirus came from wildlife, not a Lab.
The Unep report says the Covid-19 pandemic provides lessons, one which is the need to prevent and tackle various health threats concurrently, especially their environmental dimensions.
The report says another pandemic that is hiding in plain sight is antimicrobial resistance, which is already a leading threat to global health and risks adversely affecting the environmental sustainability of the planet.
“The consequences of the continuing development and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) could be catastrophic,” part of the report says.
Antimicrobial Resistance occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death.
As microbes evolve and become resistant, antimicrobial treatments are rendered less effective.
Use and misuse of antimicrobials and other stressors such as the presence of heavy metals and other pollutants create favourable conditions for resistant microbes to develop.
This can happen in the digestive tracts of humans and animals or in environmental media such as water, sewage, soil and air.
Resistant microbes can subsequently spread and be transmitted to humans, food animals, plants and wildlife because of complex interconnections across nature.
The Unep report says there is strong evidence that antimicrobials are increasingly failing to cure infections, the pipeline of novel antimicrobials to take their place has faltered.
This means that antimicrobial resistance poses a significant threat to human, animal and plant health, and food security.
The UNEP report says to be better prepared to meet this global threat and to mitigate the environmental risks of AMR, stakeholder action should focus on four specific areas.
These are the enhancement of environmental governance, planning and regulatory frameworks, identification and targeting of priority AMR relevant pollutants, improve reporting, surveillance and monitoring, Prioritize financing, innovation and capacity development.
Another report by World Animal Protection in November 2021 showed that inappropriate use of antimicrobials in animals was a growing concern.
The study that was released ahead of World Antimicrobial Awareness Week and was done in November and December 2020 consisted of a cross-sectional survey targeting veterinary drug stores (agro vets), pharmacies, farmers, and the public across 19 counties in Kenya.
Dr Victor Yamo, farming campaigns manager, World Animal Protection, says the main objective of the study was to explore the levels of antimicrobial resistance knowledge and prescribing practices among veterinary and human drug vendors, farmers, and the public.
“Knowledge and practices related to antibiotics among respondents showed significant gaps and need an urgent effort to mitigate such practices. Antibiotics were the commonly sold product in human and veterinary stores. This contrasts with the low sales of vaccines and other biosecurity measures," he says.
Dr Yamo says a concerted effort is urgently needed to sensitise the need for responsible use of antibiotics in human and animal health.
"For instance, farmers need to shift from low welfare practices in which antibiotics are misused to cover up poor welfare, and adopt higher animal welfare standards that ensure animals live a healthy life.”
The study attracted a total of 1,142 participants across 19 counties in Kenya and showed that antibiotics were the most sold product in 58 per cent of agro vets and 43 per cent of pharmacies interviewed.
Antibiotic sales contributed significantly to total revenue in both stores, 38.8 per cent in Pharmacies and 30 per cent in Agro vets.
Dairy (49.6%) and poultry (38.9%) farmers were reported as the most frequent consumers of antibiotics.
These two species are associated with intensive farming systems that are associated with overuse and misuse of antibiotics to mask poor welfare practices.
Although levels of knowledge on antibiotics and AMR were relatively evident, improper practices were evident in all study categories.
For example, self-prescription, failure to complete prescribed dose and sharing of antibiotics was reported.
Every time an antibiotic is given to an animal or consumed by a human, basically, it is an opportunity for those bacteria present to get used to that antibiotic and possibly mutate to be resistant.