Story: Fauziatu Adam
GHANA yesterday joined the rest of the world to celebrate World Heath Day, with a call on the public to strictly adhere to guidelines concerning the prescription, dispensing and use of drugs.
The Deputy Minister of Health, Mr Robert Joseph Mettle-Nunoo, who made the call, advised various health professionals to help in educating the public on the use and misuse of drugs.
The theme for this year’s event was: “Combat Antimicrobial Resistance: No Action Today, No Cure Tomorrow”.
Launching the celebration, Mr Mettle-Nunoo said a study in the country had shown that there was, indeed, antimicrobial resistance and that a significant extent of resistance existed among the most common and affordable antibiotics such as ampicillin, co-trimoxazole and chloramphenicol.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is resistance of a micro-organism to an antimicrobial medicine to which it was previously sensitive.
Resistant organisms include bacteria, viruses and some parasites which are able to withstand attack by antimicrobial medicines such as antibiotics, antivirals and antimalarials, so that standard treatment becomes ineffective and infections persist and may spread to others.
About 440,000 new cases of multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) emerged annually, causing at least 150,000 deaths in the world, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Inappropriate and irrational use of medicines provides favourable conditions for resistant micro-organisms to emerge and spread
In a message to mark the occasion, the WHO called for concerted action to halt the spread of antimicrobial resistance and recommended a six-point policy package for governments.
The package underscores the need for all key stakeholders, including policy makers and planners, the public and patients, practitioners and prescribers, pharmacists and dispensers and the pharmaceutical industry, to act and take responsibility for combating antimicrobial resistance.
GHANA yesterday joined the rest of the world to celebrate World Heath Day, with a call on the public to strictly adhere to guidelines concerning the prescription, dispensing and use of drugs.
The Deputy Minister of Health, Mr Robert Joseph Mettle-Nunoo, who made the call, advised various health professionals to help in educating the public on the use and misuse of drugs.
The theme for this year’s event was: “Combat Antimicrobial Resistance: No Action Today, No Cure Tomorrow”.
Launching the celebration, Mr Mettle-Nunoo said a study in the country had shown that there was, indeed, antimicrobial resistance and that a significant extent of resistance existed among the most common and affordable antibiotics such as ampicillin, co-trimoxazole and chloramphenicol.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is resistance of a micro-organism to an antimicrobial medicine to which it was previously sensitive.
Resistant organisms include bacteria, viruses and some parasites which are able to withstand attack by antimicrobial medicines such as antibiotics, antivirals and antimalarials, so that standard treatment becomes ineffective and infections persist and may spread to others.
About 440,000 new cases of multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) emerged annually, causing at least 150,000 deaths in the world, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Inappropriate and irrational use of medicines provides favourable conditions for resistant micro-organisms to emerge and spread
In a message to mark the occasion, the WHO called for concerted action to halt the spread of antimicrobial resistance and recommended a six-point policy package for governments.
The package underscores the need for all key stakeholders, including policy makers and planners, the public and patients, practitioners and prescribers, pharmacists and dispensers and the pharmaceutical industry, to act and take responsibility for combating antimicrobial resistance.
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