Speakers on Tuesday called for making collective efforts to address the overuse and misuse of antibiotics, as the silent pandemic of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) was contributing to increasing disease and economic burden in Pakistan.
The speakers made this call at the inauguration of the refurbished microbiology laboratory at the Nishtar University Medical Hospital (NUMH). The laboratory has been refurbished with the cooperation of the DAI-Fleming Fund Country Grant Pakistan, which works on controlling AMR in Pakistan along with 25 countries across Africa and Asia.
Dr Tauqeer Mustafa, a Public Health Specialist working with the Fleming Fund, gave an overview of the project to support the government of Pakistan’s 2017 National Action Plan (NAP) to control AMR. He said the project has been training and educating clinical and laboratory staff along with doctors, nurses, and pharmacists on basic and advanced microbiology, biosafety and biosecurity, and laboratory quality management systems.
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Dr Mehnaz Khakwani, Pro Vice-Chancellor NUMH, said the laboratory would play a pivotal role in generating critical data to guide targeted interventions for controlling AMR. She said it was high time to realize the enormity of this issue for the health and economy of the country. She recalled the priority of the AMR-NAP 2017 is developing and implementing a national awareness raising and behavior change on antimicrobial resistance. She stressed the need for improving understanding about antibiotics and their use, both for humans and animals.
Dr SM Abbas Naqvi, Dean of Basic Medical Sciences, NMUH, called for collective efforts at local, regional, and national levels to control antimicrobial resistance. He hoped the refurbished facilities at the laboratory would contribute to safeguarding public health.
Dr Sadia Iqbal, a representative of Indus Hospital & Health Network (IHHN), a partner of Fleming Fund, said the One-Health approach was critical to effectively addressing AMR. She highlighted the need for effective measures to reduce the use of antimicrobials and strengthen its surveillance in animal and human populations.
Awais Badvi, Finance & Operations Manager DAI, gave an overview of the refurbishment and equipment installed at the laboratory. Professor Asghar Javed from NUMH talked about the collaboration between the Fleming Fund and NMUH and hoped it would be strengthened in the second phase of the project.
