State intensifies measures to curb antibiotic misuse

T'puram: Health minister Veena George said that the govt suspended the licences of 450 pharmacies and cancelled the licences of two as part of strong measures to curb the overuse of antibiotics under the Kerala Antimicrobial Resistance Strategic Action Plan (KARSAP).

The govt directive that antibiotics should not be sold in medical stores without a doctor's prescription has been almost fully implemented, she added.

George said that through robust actions, the use of antibiotics decreased by 20 to 30 percent and the antibiotics used are comparatively less threatening.

A high-level antimicrobial resistance (AMR) meeting was convened under the minister's leadership. The meeting recommended strengthening tests to detect antibiotic residues in milk, meat and fish.

Comprehensive measures were also suggested to reduce the levels of antibiotics in cattle and poultry feed.

As part of making all hospitals in Kerala antibiotic-smart, a colour-coding system will be introduced. All hospitals must implement this within three months, she added. Guidelines for local bodies as part of antibiotic literacy will also be released and local self-govt institutions will be colour-coded accordingly.

Based on this colour code, micro-plans should be developed to make all local self-govt institutions antibiotic-smart.

Antibiotics must be dispensed only in blue covers for identification and all hospitals, medical stores and pharmacies must implement this, she said. Steps have been taken to convert more hospitals into antibiotic-smart hospitals. With the help of organizations like IMA, API, IAP and CIDS, efforts will be intensified in the private sector.

Health workers visited over 4,00,000 homes to raise awareness. The goal is to make the state antibiotic literate by Dec this year.

For the first time in the country, George directed other districts to gradually release district-level antibiograms based on the hub-and-spoke model introduced by Ernakulam district.

The nPROUD (new Programme on Removal of Unused Drugs) initiative implemented by state drugs control department in Kozhikode for the scientific collection and processing of expired and unused medicines will be expanded statewide.

Kerala is also the only state conducting AMR surveillance at both secondary and primary levels.