Nand wary of AMR efficacy
ANTIMICROBIAL Resistance (AMR) where bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites no longer respond to medicines will become an “economic burden” to Fiji, Health Ministry’s head of Wellness Dr Devina Nand says.
She said there were already signs of this with E. coli resistance to penicillin in Fiji at 85 per cent and
25 per cent and 0.7 per cent resistance of the pneumonia-causing bacteria to two antibiotics.
Dr Nand said this while speaking at the multi-sectoral panel discussion addressing a public health threat due to AMR hosted by the Consumer Council of Fiji in Suva last Tuesday.
“When a patient is unresponsive to antimicrobial treatment, the patient remains sick longer and there’s prolonged hospitalisation which means prolonged burdens on the healthcare system with treatment of more expensive and toxic drugs,” she said.
“Again, increasing healthcare burdens within our system.”
Dr Nand shared findings from the World Bank which suggested that AMR would decrease GDP and global livestock production by 1 per cent and 2.5 per cent respectively in the low impact scenario and 4 per cent and 7.5 per cent in the high impact scenario by 2050.
“Without effective antibiotic treatments, treatments will be unsuccessful, causing premature mortality, decreased contribution of animal products to food security and livelihoods.
“AMR could actually cost us in the western Pacific region as much as $US1.35 trillion ($F2.98 trillion) by 2032. And again, AMR can spread regionally and globally. Hence, it’s a global public health threat.”
On a brighter note, Dr Nand said through AMR surveillance, penicillin resistant gonorrhea has actually reduced in the 2011 to 2017 period
“So surveillance is happening, and that that’s what I take as a positive that we’re actually able to release these figures.”
She said AMR was one of the emerging threats in the world which “threatens the very core of modern medicine”.
“It has been projected that because of AMR, bacterial infections will increase exponentially from 700,000 in 2015, to 10 million deaths by 2050.”