Executive committee of KARSAP expanded
Executive committee expanded to 15 members. It has been expanded by including representatives of dental division, AMR surveillance lab system, and antibiotics prescription audit division. It has been set up to prevent antimicrobial resistance through the regulation of antibiotic abuse
The executive committee of the Kerala Antimicrobial Resistance Strategic Action Plan (KARSAP), set up to prevent antimicrobial resistance (AMR) through the regulation of antibiotic abuse, has been expanded.
Earlier, the KARSAP executive committee had 12 members and this has now been expanded to 15. The committee was expanded by including the representatives of the dental division, AMR surveillance lab system, and the antibiotics prescription audit division.
The chairperson and supervisor of the executive committee will be the nodal officer of the KARSAP, who by default will be the Head of Microbiology, Government Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram (GMCT).
The district-level AMR prevention activities will be led by the Additional Director of Health Services (Medical). The convener of the executive committee will be the Head of Infectious Diseases, GMCT. The expansion of the executive committee will strengthen the AMR prevention activities across various sectors in the State.
Separate nodal officers have been appointed for antibiotic-literate Kerala action plan, AMR surveillance, hub and spoke model AMR district-level surveillance, animal husbandry, environmental AMR surveillance, fisheries and aquaculture, LSG bodies awareness, awareness for schoolchildren, AMR training, AMR prevention in private sector, AMR prevention activities in hospitals, AMR research, AMR surveillance lab system, dental division, and antibiotics prescription audit.
Apart from these nodal officers, the ADHS (Medical), ADHS (Public Health) and the representatives of the Association of Physicians of India (API), Clinical Infectious Diseases Society of India Kerala chapter, and the Indian Dental Association will also be the part of the KARSAP executive committee.
The World Health Organization reckons that the unscientific use and abuse of antibiotics will lead to the death of at least one crore people due to AMR by 2050.
Kerala has been leading the movement against AMR and the State was the first to bring out a State-level as well as district-level antibiograms in the country. AMR committees are now functioning in every block and districts in the State, which function under specific guidelines.
Till now, only 52 hospitals have joined KARSNET (Kerala AMR Surveillance Network) and the State has been working towards getting more hospitals to join the network and become antibiotic-smart hospitals.
A novel antimicrobial stewardship tool was conceptualised and piloted in the Government Medical College Hospital, Thiruvananthapuram, to familiarise the prescribing physicians with the WHO’s AWaRe classification of antibiotics.
With the help of K-DISC, a mobile app has also been developed to help ensure the scientific use of antibiotics.
The Health department is now engaged in efforts to stop the sale of antibiotics without a medical prescription. The public can also help the authorities by reporting pharmacies (toll free no: 1800 4253 182) which sell antibiotics without prescriptions. Pharmacies have also been directed to sell antibiotics in separate blue envelopes.
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