By BILKE MULENGA and ANDREW PHIRI –
ANTIMICROBIAL Resistance (AMR) is the development of resistance in a microorganism – such as bacteria, virus, fungus or parasite – or to an antimicrobial agent to which it was previously sensitive.
Resistance is also defined as ‘…the property or characteristic of the microbe and not the person, animal, nor plant affected by the microbe.’
The cardinal point to be stressed here is that antimicrobial resistance poses a serious concern to human beings and animals, as well as plants.
In this regard, the antimicrobial resistance has rapidly become a global public health priority. And, therefore, the Zambian Government is currently trying to come up with ways to end antimicrobial resistance in order to promote better health.
Recently, three Government ministries came together to host a media orientation workshop on dangers of antimicrobial resistance.
The workshop attracted representatives from the ministries of Health, Livestock and Fisheries as well as Water Development, Sanitation and Environment Protection.
The idea of the workshop was to sensitise Lusaka based journalists about antimicrobial resistance to ensure that they disseminate adequate information to the general public.
The workshop was held last month at Inter-Continental Hotel in Lusaka.
It was attended by ministers, Michael Katambo for Livestock and Fisheries, Lloyd Kaziya from Water Development, Sanitation and Environment Protection, and Chitalu Chilufya from Health.
The workshop was organised by the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries in collaboration with the other ministries represented and other stakeholders, with support from the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
Dr Chitalu Chilufya (Health) said antimicrobial resistance was real, and as such, Zambia was facing a crisis.
Dr Chilufya said because of that crisis, the Government – under President Edgar Lungu – was determined to find a lasting solution to antimicrobial resistance.
He said Zambia, through President Lungu, had  asserted its stance of joining other countries to fight against antimicrobial resistance.
“To underscore the importance of addressing the global problem of AMR, the World Health Organization, the Food and Agriculture Organisation and World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) under the United Nations general assembly to which Zambia is part in 2015 resolved to fight the scourge of antimicrobial resistance.
“Thereafter, Zambia, through President Edgar Lungu at the 71st United Nations General Assembly held in September 2016, asserted to the fight against antimicrobial resistance,” Dr Chilufya said.
He urged all Zambians to join efforts in the fight against antimicrobial resistance.
The Health minister pointed out that resistance pathogens would travel internationally in people, animals and food, adding that they knew no boundaries, hence the need for the people to act.
Dr Chilufya said before the discovery of antibiotics, infant mortality rates were, (globally) very highly and life expectance was low, especially in developing countries, because people were dying from infectious diseases.
However, with the discovery of the antibiotics, disastrous effects of infectious diseases have been mitigated. These vital drugs have saved countless human lives over the past century,” he said.
He said it was up to every individual as well as the Government and the stakeholders to keep on saving more lives for years to come.
He stressed that antimicrobial resistance has also affected the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) that was expected to decrease by US$ 100 Trillion (3.5 per cent) by the year 2050.
The studies show that because of those statistics in GDP, the cost in sub-Saharan Africa in the same year (2050) shall be 50 times more than now.
Furthermore, it is estimated that infections caused by micro-organisms resistant to antimicrobial agents will by 2050 lead to 10 million annual human fatalities globally.
Presenting a paper at the same workshop, animal expert from the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Dr Geoffrey Mainda, explained that antimicrobial agents could kill or stop the multiplication of microorganisms.
Dr Mainda said antibiotics were medicines that stop infections caused by bacteria.
“They do this by killing the bacteria or by stopping them from reproducing,” Dr Mainda said.
He said antimicrobial resistance occurs naturally, but inappropriate use in humans and animals in accelerating the process.
Dr Mainda citied some of the causes of antimicrobial resistance as the result of under dosing, over dosing and not following proper treatment regimes.
He further blamed antimicrobial resistance on the use of uncertified antimicrobials, use of antimicrobials as growth promoters and residues of antimicrobials in food of animal origin.
Dr Mainda pointed out that antimicrobial resistance is also in animal health.
He said antimicrobial resistance can be shared from a pet to a human being by way of contact.
Dr Mainda’s presentation depicted a dog and a cat as the pets that could be easily spread.
“Spreading of AMR from pets to humans or vice versa is mostly by contact through sharing of the microbes and it can also occur or through food chain and contacts,” he said.
However, Dr Mainda said the problem in AMR in animal health could be mitigated through practicing some workable and approved interventions.
National focal point person Otridah Kapona explained that antimicrobial agents are “…a general term for drugs, chemicals, or other substances that kill or slow down the growth of microbes.”
Ms Kapona said among antimicrobial agents are anti-bacterials, anti-virals, anti-fungal and anti-parasitic drugs.
She said in 1928, Mr Alexander Fleming had discovered the first antibiotic – penicillin – to be used among human beings.
“After the first use of antibiotics in the 1940s, they transformed medicalcare and dramatically reduced illness and death from infectious diseases,” she said.
She named the increase in use of antibiotics in human medicine, veterinary for growth promotion and diseases prevention, and in agriculture as factors that could be attributed to antibiotic resistance.
“Other contributing factors in antibiotic resistance are inappropriate use of drugs such as self-medication, non-compliance, quality of antibiotics and availability of antibiotics without a prescription have also been possible factors,” Ms Kapona said.
She said antibiotic resistance can cause significant suffering for patients with once easily treatable infections that could be controlled with antibiotics, such as meningitis and pneumonia and, eventually can result into disability or death of such persons.
Hard-to-treat illnesses could be spread from one person to another, like in a family setup, schools, and co-workers and even across the borders.
Zambia Environmental Agency (ZEMA) representative Rodwell Chandipo outlined the mandate and the role of ZEMA in the fight against the antimicrobial resistance.
Mr Chandipo said ZEMA had a number of responsibilities in advising the Government about the way forward in addressing issues that threaten people’s lives, including antimicrobial resistance.
“Our organisation looks at things such as emissions, effluent/water management, air emissions and also general waste management and hazardous waste,” he said.
The involvement of the three Government ministries in the fight against antimicrobial resistance is indicative of how important the matter is.
It was against this background that the stakeholders thought it befitting to engage the media in order to ensure smooth information delivery to the general public.
Now, the onus is on the media to initiate various awareness initiatives to ensure human and animal life is safeguarded.