Dr Kidong Park,WHO representative in Vietnam, calls for more efforts to be stepped up in combating antimicrobial resistance (AMR) at a workshop on September 21 in Hanoi. (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The health sector called for efforts to be steppedup to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR) at a workshop on September 21 toreview the first-phase implementation of the National Action Plan onAntimicrobial Resistance in Vietnam.
Speaking at the event, Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien said AMR has beenan alarming problem in Vietnam, especially the issue of antibioticresistance in the food chain and ecological environment due tothe increase of antibiotic use and weakness in antibiotic management inhealthcare and animal husbandry.
She said survey results on selling antibiotics at retail drug stores in thenorth showed weakness in the community’s awareness of antibiotics and AMR.
“Antibiotics have been sold without prescriptions at 88 percent of urbandrugstores and 91 percent of rural drugstores. Antibiotics have contributed to13.4 percent of drugstores’ total sales in urban areas and 18.7 percent ofdrugstores’ total sales in rural areas,” said Tien.
Tien stressed that reducing antibiotics use and combating AMR requires theinvolvement of all ministries and sectors from the central to the local levelsand all of society.
Speaking at the event, Dr Kidong Park, the World Health Organisation (WHO)representative in Vietnam, praised the contributions of Vietnam in the globalfight against AMR.
“The current burden of AMR is just the tip of the iceberg for the future burdenof AMR. If we don’t want to see the full-blown burden of AMR, we must takeaction now,” said Park.
At the event, participants focused their discussion on the results and existingshortcomings of efforts to advance the fight against AMR in Vietnam.
Representatives of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and theVeterinary Department suggested the State management authorities shouldstrengthen supervision and early warnings of diseases affecting animals andpoultry.
Management authorities should expand communication campaigns to strengthen thecommunity’s awareness of antibiotics and AMR prevention, tighten inspectionsand strictly handle violations related to illegal trading and use of prohibitedantibiotics and veterinary medicine in breeding and aquaculture.
According to WHO, the estimated death toll due to AMR reaches some 700,000per year globally. Failure to control AMR will lead to an increase incases of up to 10 million per year by 2050, which is more thanthe estimate for cancer and ten times more than that for diabetes. Further, theeconomic cost of AMR in 2050 will go up to 100 trillion USD.
In 2013, Vietnam passed the National Action Plan on AMR as the first country inWHO’s Western Pacific Region to do so. Last month, the Ministry ofAgriculture and Rural Development, with support from the United NationsFood and Agriculture Organisation, adopted a National Action Plan to tackle theoverconsumption of antimicrobials in livestock and fisheries.-VNA
VNA
