India has an opportunity to build antibiotic guardians: Prof Patel
   Date :22-Jan-2023

Prof Mahendra Patel
 Prof Mahendra Patel
 
By Rutu Borkar ;
 
“India has an opportunity to build antibiotic guardians and become a champion for preventing unnecessary use of antibiotics,” asserted Professor Mahendra G Patel, Head of the Centre for Research Equity, Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford. Speaking to ‘The Hitavada’ on the sidelines of the 72nd Indian Pharmaceutical Congress, Professor Patel said, “The easily availability of antibiotics at medical stores in India is a cause of concern. The objective is to have as many ‘antibiotic guardians’ as possible in India.” This will help to spread the message around the dangers of overuse, misuse and inappropriate use of antibiotics. All the associated stakeholders (hospitals, academics, industry and community), regulating agencies and key opinion leaders have to take a pledge to improve understanding on the use of antibiotics. Colleges and universities, through staff and students, can also become guardians and develop their own initiatives by sharing among friends and in forums.
 
In 2019, the Indian Pharmaceutical Association (IPA), had a base of over 13,000 members. Making better use of this vast network makes way for excellent opportunities in helping drive forward the antibiotic guardian initiative throughout India with pharmacy/ medical stores as the vehicle to create more guardians, said the Professor. Prof Patel strongly advocated the use of social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and Linkedin in raising awareness level among the masses, especially the young ones. Professor Patel insisted on creating an ‘impact’ and on building a plethora of antibiotic guardians to act as champions in all settings and advocating the proper and appropriate use of antibiotics will require long-term strategy.
 
India has a huge opportunity in leading the way forward globally through pharmacy in the battle against antibiotic resistance by creating the largest number of antibiotic guardians in the world. Showcasing the learning from this initiative of antibiotic guardians in India to the Commonwealth Pharmacy Association (CPA), International Federation Pharmacy (FIP), as well as the European Association of Pharmacists, India can become a model for other countries and members to adopt and emulate the same story.