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Drug resistance taking toll on health
The use of antimicrobials in treating diseases is among the human inventions adopted almost in their entirety. It is for this reason that whenever we fall sick, the first thing that comes to mind is medication.
The challenge of anti-microbial resistance is already taking a toll on animal health and, consequently, food and nutrition security.
Public health is not spared either; the World Health Organisation projects that the globe is already registering 4.95 million deaths annually from diseases that were initially easily treatable, a figure that is likely to increase if corrective interventions are not instituted.
Antimicrobials are medicines used to treat infectious diseases in humans, animals and plants. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when these microorganisms no longer respond to medicines that were initially effective against them.
With this, antimicrobials become ineffective, and infections become difficult, costly or impossible to treat. This increases the risk of disease spread, severe illness, costly treatment, disability and eventual death.
AMR and its projected negative effects on human and animal health can be compared to a battle with an invisible but terrible enemy. It is difficult to put a face to AMR. It is for this reason that AMR needs urgent attention from every person through prudent use of antimicrobials in humans, animals and plants.
The discovery of antibiotics was a great moment in human history and the medical-science world. Antibiotics were used to save millions of lives, easily lost to now-treatable bacterial infections. So effective were the antibiotics that they were christened magic bullets owing to their ability to target and kill micro-organisms that had historically claimed lives.
The use of antimicrobials in treating diseases is among the human inventions adopted almost in their entirety. It is for this reason that whenever we fall sick, the first thing that comes to mind is medication.
The use of antimicrobials has a human behavioural component that promotes abuse and is now being used against humanity as disease-causing micro-organisms are adapting and changing to resist the lethal effects of medicines designed to kill them and cure infections.
The process of resistance development and spread is accelerated by human behaviour, mainly the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials to treat, prevent or control infections in humans, animals and plants.
Human populations are growing, fuelling urbanisation and expansion into new habitats, with increased contact with wild, domestic animals, in a shared environment, providing more opportunities for diseases to pass between animals and people. Antimicrobial-resistant germs can rapidly spread through communities, food supply networks, healthcare facilities, and the environment (soil and water), making it harder to treat certain infections in animals and people.
Kenya, like any other country, faces multifaceted health challenges at the intersection of humans, animals, and the environment. Kenya has been at the forefront of tackling antimicrobial resistance, being among the first countries to develop a communication strategy, a national action plan, and a policy on antimicrobial resistance—milestones that were showcased at the second global conference on antimicrobial resistance held in Marrakesh, Morocco, in 2018, further refining the path to its containment.
Due to the nature of the drivers of antimicrobial resistance, and the interaction between humans, animals, and the environment, which is inevitable, combating this menace requires action on all fronts. The one-health approach has emerged among the practical solutions in the war on antimicrobial resistance.
This approach recognises that people’s health is closely connected to the health of animals and our shared environment. A one-health approach encourages the collaborative efforts of many experts working across human, animal, and environmental health to improve the health of people, animals and plants.
Kenya has taken the lead in implementing this approach. Kenya recently held a one-health investment workshop to assess and prioritise opportunities and evaluate one-health governance structures, advocacy, and areas of joint work and partnership building in fighting AMR. Such meetings and the strategic implementation of their outputs can help in the battle against antimicrobial resistance, as they not only draw in new stakeholders but also serve to raise awareness of this challenge facing humanity.
One-Health is gaining global recognition as an effective way to fight health issues at the human-animal-environment interface, including zoonotic diseases. Successful interventions require the multi- and trans-sectoral cooperation of human, animal, and environmental health partners.
Professionals in human and animal health, anthropology, communication, environment and other areas the expertise need to collaborate on, and coordinate AMR activities.
