The Food and Agriculture Organisations (FAO) has outlined a five year action plan to address the threat of Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in West Africa.
Antimicrobial resistance arises when organisms that cause infection evolve ways to survive treatment. Once standard treatments are ineffective, it is easier for infections to persist and spread. These resistant organisms are found in people, animals, food and the environment.
Although according to experts, resistance occurs naturally, the inappropriate use of anti-infectives and antimicrobials in both human and animal medicine, in plants and crops and unintentional exposure, for example through environmental contamination and food, is rapidly accelerating the pace at which it develops and spreads.
By using or taking the wrong kind of anti-infective agent or antimicrobial drug, not using them as directed or in inappropriate concentrations, humans as patients, prescribers, carers and animal owners are driving antimicrobial resistance the world over.
As part of it strategy, the organisation hosted a three-day regional conference with some Anglophone African countries (Ghana, Gambia, Kenya, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone among others) organized with WHO and OIE, in collaboration with the government of Nigeria through the Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development, Health and Environment to assess the current mitigation strategies, and associated legislations in West Africa among many others.
By 2030, according to reports, global human consumption of antibiotics is expected to rise by more than 30 per cent (up to 200% if it continues growing at current rates). In the animal health sector, the UK reduced its use by 40 per cent between 2013 and 2017, and is expected to reduce further.
However, due to an increase in meat production and consumption globally, it is predicted that antimicrobial use in animals worldwide will increase by 67 per cent between 2010 and 2030 primarily driven by an increase in consumption in low- and middle-incomes and Brazil, Russia, India, China and South African (BRICS) countries.
The Nigeria Country Representative of FAO, Mr. Suffyan Koroma, said the misuse of antibiotics in agriculture contributes to the spread of AMR and also undermines the efficacy of veterinary and human medicines.
Koroma who was represented by Dr. Hover Boussin said the crisis is global and one of the major threat to public health in this generation as gripping evidence shows that the total volume of antibiotics used, also in food production drives resistance. And this according to him endangers modern human and veterinary medicine as well as undermine the safety of food and environment.
“Tackling antibiotic resistance there is a top priority for FAO and its sister agencies such as WHO and OIE, thence, a global action plan on antimicrobial resistance, including antibiotic resistance is a necessity.
“The fact that human and veterinary health, food and feed production system and agro-ecological environments all contribute to and are affected by AMR, is an indication that a crisis of this magnitude requires an effective one health approach involving coordinate action among both national and international sectors and actors to curb its occurrence and impacts,” he said.
He said FAO is uniquely placed to contribute to international effort to address AMR and to provide support to governments, producers, traders and other stakeholders to adopt measures to minimise the use of antimicrobials and to reduce AMR, while being sensitive to the needs of the food and Agriculture sector worldwide.
“To this effect, FAO has an outlined action plan for 2016 – 2020 ” Supporting the food and Agriculture sectors in implementing the global action plan on antimicrobial resistance to minimise the impact of AMR.
“I am told that most of the countries in these regions have AMR action plans in place, but there is a need for high-level political commitment by government. It is in this wise that we need to leverage on the influence and contributions of political leaders, parliamentarians and opinion leaders to overcome this AMR global threat,” he said.
He, therefore, urged participants to put extra energy at changing all behaviours that lead to abuse of antimicrobials including pest residues in agricultural products for human consumption.
The Permanent secretary Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Muhammed Bello Umar, said Nigeria is working with partners to address risk of antimicrobial.
He said the country will benefit from whatever may be the outcome of the meeting.
Mr Omotayo Hamzat, who represented the World Health Organisation (WHO) said addressing AMR in Nigeria will require concerted efforts, adding that the implementation of the action plan will be gradual particularly in the human health aspect ere antibiotics are misused or abused since surveilance is very poor in the country but that with NCDC coming up with surveilance plan.
“But the borden is huge, if you look at our environment because of the level of drug abuse and it also happened in the livestock section where we use antibiotics inappropriately and when these animals are killed, human beings eat them and they carry the residue antimicrobials into their system and when they use antibiotics to treat subsequent problem, we find failures,” he lamented.
