Terming anti-microbial resistance (AMR) as a big challenge which cannot be tackled by the health ministry alone, the Union health minister JP Nadda said that several ministries would work together to solve the problem.
Caused by misuse and overuse of antibiotics in the medical and livestock industry where it is used to make animals gain weight, AMR makes microbes resistant to the drugs that treat them.
The ministries of agriculture, animal husbandry, pharmaceuticals and environment will jointly launch a campaign against AMR on February 22. The ministries will also jointly strategize policies to reduce AMR together.
“We will also have a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with all ministries together. We will also develop an action plan and policies will be directed in that direction,” said Union Health Minister J P Nadda. The Health Ministry has already circulated a concept note to each of the ministries.
Auditing prescriptions would be one of the steps the government would take to ensure that antibiotics are used judiciously. “Auditing prescriptions will help us understand where we are headed when it comes to resistance. However, it is easy to enforce this in public sector, but not that easy in the private sector,” said CK Mishra, health secretary.
The health minister praised the 22.77% increase and said, “This is a sign that the finance ministry trusts that we are capable of spending this money.”
{{/usCountry}}The health minister praised the 22.77% increase and said, “This is a sign that the finance ministry trusts that we are capable of spending this money.”
{{/usCountry}}Talking about the central government hospitals and teaching institutes he informed that the government has been unable to identify land to set up four AIIMS – two in Bihar, one in Tamil Nadu and one in Himachal Pradesh.
He also said that the government has not taken decision on making aadhar card mandatory at the time of registration for patients coming to AIIMS, Delhi.