Dr. Emmanuel Odame (middle), Martha Gyansah-Lutterodt, Director of Pharmaceutical Service (4th left) Dr. Owen Kaluwa and other partners of the WAAW celebration
World Health Organisation (WHO) Country Representative to Ghana, Dr. Owen Kaluwa, has called on government to invest in effective medicines to curtail the antibiotic resistance threatening the future health of generations to come.
He said incentives for public-private partnerships to invest in new medicines, vaccines and diagnostic tools are urgently needed to stimulate the development of new antibiotics and therapies.
Dr. Kaluwa, therefore, called on governments, funding agencies and the private sector to invest and work together to secure safe and effective medicines.
He was speaking at the press launch of this year’s World Antibiotic Week celebration (WAAW) under the theme: ‘Think Twice, Seek Advice. Misuse of Antibiotics Puts Us All At Risk’.
He explained that antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria become resistant to the active ingredients in medicines, adding that resistant bacteria may infect humans and animals, making infections like pneumonia, tuberculosis and gonorrhoea harder to treat.
Dr. Kaluwa said the reasons for rising antibiotic resistance include overprescribing, misuse by patients who don’t follow the advice of healthcare professionals, overuse in farming, poor infection control and lack of new antibiotics
“Research and development is the cornerstone for new, life-saving antibiotics. However, since 1980s there have been very few new antibiotics,” he revealed, hinting that investments are, therefore, needed to build a smarter world for safe, effective medicines.
In a speech read on his behalf by Dr. Emmanuel Odame, Health Minister Kwaku Agyeman-Manu stated that over the years, Ghana has taken resilient steps in curbing resistance by developing the Ghana National Antimicrobial Use & Resistance (AMR) Policy and National Action Plan modelled after the Global Action Plan developed in ‘one-health’.
He mentioned that the action plan includes strategies in the areas of surveillance, laboratory strengthening, stakeholder engagements, infection prevention and control practices and anti-microbial stewardship programmes.
By Abigail Owiredu-Boateng