By Abubakar Yakubu
The coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Mohammad Ali Pate has warned that drug-resistance infection pose a growing threat to lives, healthcare delivery and national development.
The minister who stated this during a press briefing ahead of the fifth Global High-level Ministerial Conference on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) on December 6-8 in Abuja, acknowledged that AMR has contributed in 2019 to 64,500 deaths in Nigeria.
He called for the stronger cross-sector collaboration as well as improved public health interventions to to tackle AMR.
The minister also noted that the inappropriate use of antibiotics and other Antimicrobial medicines, alongside gaps in infection prevention, diagnosis and surveillance, were capable of accelerating the development and spread of drugs resistance.
While strengthening antimicrobial stewardship in hospitals and other health facilities, the minister called for improved laboratory capacity and disease surveillance as well as the promotion of responsible prescription on the use of antibiotics.
The minister advised members of the public to avoid taking antibiotics without an appropriate medical advice, adding that antibiotics are ineffective against viral infections and their misuse can contribute to drug resistance.
