WHO: Stop overuse of antibiotics

The World Health Organization (WHO) launched on Friday an online campaign to stop the rising prevalence of antibioticresistant diseases in the Philippines and other countries in the Western Pacific region.

WHO regional director for the Western Pacific Shin Young-soo said the online campaign aims to raise a million pledges for commitment to stop overuse and misuse of antibiotics.

Various activities in countries across the region are also slated on Nov. 13 - 19 to mark World Antibiotic Awareness Week.

The National Antibiotic Guidelines will be launched, and winners of an antibiotic resistance jingle-making contest will be announced.

Incidence of antibiotic resistance is rising to worrisome levels in all parts of the world and threatening the ability to treat common infections.

The WHO said that pneumonia, tuberculosis, blood poisoning, gonorrhea and infections that affect animals are becoming harder and sometimes impossible to treat as antibiotics become less effective.

The more antibiotics are used, the faster resistance develops, according to the WHO. Antibiotic-resistant bugs then spread between humans and animals through direct contact, food or the environment.

“Quite simply, we are running out of effective antibiotics. We can no longer ignore the urgency and gravity of this issue: resistance to antibiotics is a serious public health emergency,” Shin said.

“The consequences are genuinely frightening. As regional director of WHO’s most populous region, this is one of the issues that keeps me awake at night. I’m calling on everyone to take the pledge to stop the overuse and misuse of antibiotics,” he added.

To tackle these problems, the WHO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) work together to promote best practices to reduce antibiotic resistance.