E-Paper
Antibiotic resistance: WHO awards research project to Ludhiana vet varsity
Experts to conduct research on antimicrobial resistance for the south-east Asia region
The World Health Organisation (WHO) has awarded a research project on antibiotic resistance to the school of public health and zoonoses, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University.
It was awarded by WHO’s regional office for the south-east Asian region. The project will be headed by Randhir Singh, professor, school of public health and zoonoses, and his team.
The school has been working actively in the area of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) for many years and has several national and international collaborations in the area.
Randhir Singh said AMR is one of the major global health problems and their indiscriminate use in human and animal health sectors is mainly to blame for this.
He added that if this problem is not addressed immediately, then as per some projections, 10 million people annually are going to lose their life globally by 2050, and the losses will be higher in low or middle income countries.
JPS Gill, director research of the university, said that scientists of the university will carry out the situation analysis of the antibiotic use in animal production and agriculture sector and its impact on food safety and AMR for south-east Asia Region.
Dr Inderjeet Singh, vice-chancellor, GADVASU, lauded the efforts of the scientists. He said that the issue of antibiotic resistance is a big economic burden.
He added that it is important to continuously monitor this problem, especially in the animal production and agricultural sector.
Dr RS Aulakh, director, school of public health and zoonoses, said that food animals and foods of animal origin are one of the important contributors of antibiotic resistant organisms. Growing population and increased food demand is further going to escalate the problem, he added.
What is antimicrobial resistance?
AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time, and no longer respond to medicines. This makes infections harder to treat and increases risk of disease spread, severe illness and death.
