Antibiotic resistance: Activists demand environ surveillance.

There is a need for environmental surveillance to check the spread of antibiotic resistance along with strict laws on waste from farms and factories, demand activists on the occasion of World Antibiotic Awareness Week.
Antibiotic resistance is globally recognised as a public health threat as antibiotics are increasingly becoming ineffective against disease-causing bacteria.
A Global Action Plan on Anti-Microbial Resistance has been developed by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and all countries are expected to submit their National Action Plans aligned with it by mid-2017 to the WHO.

"Other than food, environmental spread of resistance is a big issue. Countries need to reduce environmental entry of antibiotic residues and resistant bacteria by managing waste from livestock and aquaculture farms, slaughter houses and animal food processing units.
"Discharge effluents from the pharmaceutical industry also need urgent attention.
"Countries must work towards developing necessary laws and standards on waste from farms and factories as well as institutionalise systems for environmental surveillance of resistance.

"This has to be an integral part of country-level action plans," said Chandra Bhushan, Deputy Director General, CSE.
Activists also urged that environmental policymakers alongwith agricultural policymakers must be engaged while framing National Action Plans on Antimicrobial Resistance.

"While countries are in the process of making their National Action Plans, it is critical that environmental policymakers in developing countries are actively involved in this exercise, along with policymakers from the agriculture and health sectors.
"The global guidance also needs to adequately address environmental spread of antibiotic resistance," said Sunita Narain, Director General, CSE.
These remarks were made at the two-day international conference held here on National Action Plans of Developing Countries on Antimicrobial Resistance.
During the conference, experts from several developed and developing countries and from the WHO, FAO and the OIE discussed and agreed upon the importance of containing environmental spread of AMR.

Misuse of antibiotics accelerates resistance to it. This is caused by misuse or overuse by humans and for animals like chickens reared for meat and egg, fish, and other food animals.