The general public's knowledge and understanding of risks of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance is low!

Contributed by Dr. Akilesh Ramasamy & Dr. Tamhankar

CDC Year in Review: “Mission: Critical” (1)
CDC lists antibiotic resistance as 2nd in its list "Mission:critical" published on December 15, 2014. The first concern listed is Ebola. WHO has since many years listed antibiotic resistance as a global concern.

Does the attitude of people have a role in this spread of antibiotic resistance and irrational use of antibiotics ? Do the general public have adequate knowledge and understanding of risks of antibiotic resistance ?

To find an answer to this question, researchers from George Washington, Cornell and Johns Hopkins universities conducted a small study in which they surveyed 113 patients in an urban hospital to test their understanding of antibiotics.(2)

The Review on Antimicrobial Resistance publishes its first paper on December 11, 2014

Contributed by: Dr. Akilesh Ramasamy & Dr. Tamhankar
Jim O’Neill was commissioned by The UK Prime Minister, The Rt Hon David Cameron MP, in July 2014 to chair this review on antimicrobial resistance. Jim O'Neill's task is to create a global consensus on antibiotics by 2016. (Read interview)

The first white paper on this attempt has been published on December 11, 2014.

"Drug-resistant infections already kill hundreds of thousands a year globally, and by 2050 that figure could be more than 10 million. The economic cost will also be significant, with the world economy being hit by up to $100 trillion by 2050 if we do not take action.” - Jim O’Neill, Chairman of the Review on AMR.

December 1 - World HIV Day. Good programme management resulted in manageable anti-HIV drug resistance.

Contributed by: Dr. Akilesh & Dr. Tamhankar

December 1 is celebrated by NGOs, governments and other associations as the World AIDS Day. On this day, let's talk about the issues of drug resistance to anti-retroviral drugs and how good programme management has resulted in manageable drug resistance. When HIV treatment was first introduced in 1990s in well developed countries, there was a rapid spread of resistance.

By 2010, the amount of HIV that was resistant to ARVs among people initiating treatment in the areas surveyed for the report, stood at 6.8%. - WHO Media Report