Contributed by: Siddarth David & Dr. Tamhankar
Last week the Lancet began
a series titled "Access to effective
antimicrobials: a worldwide challenge" to look at how to preserve access for populations who need antibiotics and how
to maintain the effectiveness of the antibiotics. The series urges that while renewed focus on understanding which policies
will work to combat antimicrobial resistance is critical, but it
also essential to tackle lack of access to antimicrobial drugs
remains a major issue.
Dr. Narayan Laxminarayan from the
Centre for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy (CDDEP) and colleagues
used Latin Hypercube sampling to determine the impact of effective antibiotic
use in 101 countries. They found that increased antibiotic delivery would avert
approximately 445,000 community-acquired pneumonia deaths in children aged
younger than 5 years. They also observed a growing trend in antibiotic
consumption, with a 36% increase in 71 countries from 2000 to 2010 and pointed
out that further progress, however, this could be hindered due to pathogen
resistance, according to researchers.
Laxminarayan and colleagues
concluded that the best way to fight resistance is to improve hygiene practices
and water quality while strengthening public health departments rather
than depending solely on antibiotic use, which is the current trend in
medicine.
