Stop indiscriminate use of antibiotics – Prof Boabeng

Professor Kwame Ohene Boabeng, a Clinical Pharmacologist, has called for an end to the indiscriminate use of antibiotics to avert the growing rate of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Antimicrobial, he said, are microorganisms that include bacteria, viruses, fungi that evolve and could resist drugs that should otherwise kill them.

Prof Boabeng, who is a Professor of Pharmacy Practice at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) made the call at a two-day workshop held for selected journalists from various media houses in Accra.

The workshop was aimed at training journalists to understand and effectively educate the public on the dangers of antibiotics misuse.

Prof Boabeng said statistics from the World Health Organisation (WHO) indicates that an average of 1,918 people die from AMR on a daily basis and that according the WHO if the situation is not dealt with as expected, it could escalate to one death per person every minute by 2050.

He said many tertiary health facilities across the country are recording high rates of Extended Spectrum Beta Lactonades (ESBL), an enzyme caused by a class of bacteria.

Prof Boabeng said ESBL bacteria infections usually occur in the urinary tract, lungs, skin, blood, abdomen, adding that; “one can breathe in the bacteria when a person with an ESBL infection coughs or sneezes nearby.”

He said “these classes of bacteria have become resistant to most antibiotics available,” hence the need for intensification of efforts to curb antibiotics misuse.

He called for vigorous awareness creation efforts of the use of antibiotics by health authorities.

Source: GNA