WE CAN DO MORE TO PREVENT ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE ≡
Posted on Thursday, July 24, 2014 at 3:16 PM

"Be very prudent and cautious when dispensing and counseling for antimicrobial medicines.."–

This clear, comprehensible message had always been reiterated by almost all of my professors when I was still a student. Whenever the opportunity arose and where antimicrobial medicines were related, they made it a point to explain essential information about the proper use (and effects of misuse) of the aforesaid medicines. More importantly, they incessantly mentioned that Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) may highly occur if appropriate care will not be properly observed and practiced.

AMR is defined as the “resistance of a microorganism (including bacteria, viruses and some parasites) to an antimicrobial agent.” This resistance may be attributed to a mutation of a certain microorganism or when it acquires a specific resistance gene to the antimicrobial medicines. In any case, the end-result may highly be failure of the patient’s medication therapy, leading to disadvantageous repercussions.

An infographic regarding antimicrobial resistance.
For higher resolution click here. Photo credit: World Health Organization (WHO).

Admittedly, the severity of AMR in the Country was not fully known to me during those times. However, being exposed in the status quo has made me realize how alarming AMR is and will be, not only nationally but also globally. Firstly, AMR hinders the management of infectious diseases since it reduces the efficacy of antimicrobial medicines. Secondly, AMR augments the costs associated with healthcare due to prolonged illness. Thirdly, AMR affects the long-term sustainability of the control of various diseases due to increased risk of spreading resistant pathogens which are more difficult to eradicate. Lastly, AMR threatens a possible return to the pre-antibiotic era due to the fact that lesser antibiotic drugs are being successfully discovered.

It is important to note that the increasing occurrence of AMR is associated with interrelated factors, such as the healthcare providers (e.g., inappropriate treatment guidelines; poor training; absence of treatment monitoring), medicines (e.g., inadequate supply; suboptimal quality), and patients (e.g., inappropriate and irrational use of medicines; poor adherence; lack of information).

Nevertheless, AMR is essentially a man-made occurrence wherein it results from the patient’s extensive use, misuse and overuse of antimicrobials that, in turn, result to ineffective standard treatments.
Reducing the proliferation of drug-resistant strains and AMR, as a whole, is difficult, but not impossible.
Just as AMR is depicted to be the result of every patient’s actions, then its occurrence can be also diminished through positive interventions in the patient’s actions.

We, as pharmacists, can contribute in decreasing AMR. Some of the initiatives which we can do include the following:

(1) Strictly implementing legislative requirements pertaining to dispensing of antimicrobial medicines (e.g., forbid dispensing without prescriptions);
(2) Ensuring the rational and responsible use of antimicrobial medicines by the patients (e.g., counseling and monitoring of patients taking antimicrobial medicines); and
(3) Regularly updating one’s knowledge and information on AMR for proper guidance on antimicrobial medicines
(4) Continuously educating communities on the need for and proper ways of preventing communicable diseases.

Undoubtedly, there are many things that we have to accomplish to combat AMR. Nonetheless, all of these could be achieved if we work together in addressing the issues at hand. As J.K. Rowling once said, “we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided.”


If you would like to learn more about AMR, you may visit the following links:



ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Mac Ardy J. Gloria, RPh holds a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Pharmacy degree from the University of the Philippines Manila. Presently, he is working as a research assistant, and is a member of the team behind the creation of the Philippine National Formulary for Primary Healthcare. Recently, he became an international delegate for the 2014 Good Pharmacy Practice (GPP) Education and International Training Program in Taipei, Taiwan. He is planning to pursue a Master of Public Health in the aforesaid university.






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