The medical director, Pfizer West Africa, Dr. Kodjo Soroh has alerted the public that the treatment of infectious diseases is becoming more difficult due to the widespread emergence of antimicrobial resistance.
Dr. Kodjo made the disclosure during a virtual media roundtable hosted by Pfizer to create awareness about Antimicrobial Stewardship, AMS, to ensure ongoing patient safety and maintain the future effectiveness of antibiotics.
The media round table was attended by notable medical professionals including, Professor Oyinlola Omoniyi Oduyebo of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) Idi Araba, and Dr. Kennedy Tamunoimiegbam Wariso of the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH).
The Pfizer MD said, “Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines, making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death, adding that “AMR is one of the biggest threats to global health today and can affect anyone, of any age, in any country.”
“If it continues unchecked, minor infections could become life- threatening, serious infections could become impossible to treat, and many routine medical procedures could become too risky to perform.
“Without action by governments, industry, and society, AMR is expected to cause 10 million deaths each year by 2050 as overuse of antibiotics is creating stronger germs. Some bacteria are already “resistant” to common antibiotics. When bacteria become resistant to antibiotics, it is often harder and more expensive to treat the infection. Losing the ability to treat serious bacterial infections is a major threat to public health.
“Currently, at least 700,000 people die each year due to drug-resistant diseases. More and more common diseases, including respiratory tract infections, sexually transmitted infections and urinary tract infections, are untreatable; lifesaving medical procedures are becoming much riskier, and our food systems are increasingly precarious,” Dr. Soroh added.
In her contribution, Professor Oyinlola Omoniyi Oduyebo, disclosed that “Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a serious threat to global public health because it increases morbidity and mortality, and is associated with high economic costs due to its health care burden.”
She said infections with multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria also have substantial implications on clinical and economic outcomes and increased indiscriminate use of antibiotics during the COVID-19 pandemic heightened bacterial resistance which ultimately led to more deaths.
Prof. Kennedy Tamunoimiegbam Wariso in his comments noted that antimicrobial stewardship programmes optimize the use of antimicrobials, improve patient outcomes, reduce AMR and health-care-associated infections, and save health-care costs, amongst others.
“With the rates of AMR increasing worldwide, and very few new antibiotics being developed, existing antibiotics are becoming a limited resource. It is therefore essential that antibiotics only be prescribed – and that last-resort antibiotics (AWaRe RESERVE group) be reserved – for patients who truly need them. Hence, AMS and its defined set of actions for optimizing antibiotic use are of paramount importance.
“A robust pipeline of new antimicrobials is essential to restoring the balance against increasing rates of AMR. However, significant economic hurdles have made research and development in this area a challenge as no novel class of antibiotics has been launched for almost 40 years, and even when newly approved treatments come to market, they may be used sparingly to support good antimicrobial stewardship practices – making it difficult to recover the high cost associated with development. New reimbursement models that more fully reflect the complete value of antimicrobials are critical,” he added.
