Eye-opening investigation

This is regarding the article "Raising superbugs" (1 -15 September, 2017). In 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his radio programme Mann Ki Baat urged people to stop taking antibiotics without a prescription as a preventive measure against antibiotic resistance. He also stated that the government is committed to stopping antimicrobial resistance.

This story should serve as a wake-up call for the government as currently we lack uncompromising statutes towards misuse of antibiotics in humans as well as animals. Significant action plans are required to address the mismanagement of poultry waste. Authorities should promote concrete measures such as biogas generation, curb antibiotic use in poultry and ban poultry litter as feed for aquaculture. The potential threats caused by these contagious pathogens are still latent, but at this rate, it won't take long for them to contaminate our environment and become an inexorable part of our food chain, evolving into an indomitable biological danger to us.

RASHMI M LECTURER, DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY, ZAMORIN'S GURUVAYURAPPAN COLLEGE, KOZHIKODE, KERALA