Viet Nam: Together and Stronger against antimicrobial resistance
Saturday, 2016/12/10 | 06:10:59
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FAO 28/11/2016
HANOI, 28 NOVEMBER 2016 – The second National Antibiotics Awareness Week in Viet Nam highlights the continued high level commitment of the government against antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Running under the theme: Together and Stronger against AMR, the campaign brings together various sectors: health, agriculture, industry and trade, environment and natural resources, academia, local governments, communities and the public. Across the country pledges are made to use antibiotics responsibly and protect one of the most precious innovations in modern medicine.
The threat of antibiotic resistance
The discovery of antibiotics almost ninety years ago changed the course of modern medicine, giving doctors the ability to treat previously fatal infections. Millions of lives have been saved as a result. However, antibiotics have increasingly lost their effectiveness due to antimicrobial resistance. The phenomenon of antibiotic resistance threatens the health and lives of the people in Viet Nam, the environment, as well as the sustainability of food and agriculture production systems.
In recent years, Viet Nam has witnessed a growing threat of antimicrobial resistance, brought about by the excessive and irrational use of antibiotics at all levels of the health care system and the public as a whole. It is difficult to quantify the magnitude of the problem, due to a lack of adequate surveillance systems, but some estimate that by 2050 antimicrobial resistance could be responsible for killing 10 million people a year globally, the equivalent of 1 person every 3 seconds - more than cancer kills today.
Without effective antibiotics for the prevention and treatment of infections illnesses of humans and animals become much harder to treat. Common surgeries become much more dangerous and untreated infections lead to longer hospital stays, higher medical costs, and increased mortality.
“Antibiotic resistance can affect anyone, of any age, in any country. It is conceivable that in a few decades, treatments such as chemotherapy for cancer and simple surgery will become impossible because they rely on antibiotics to protect patients from infection. We are facing a future where a cough or cut could kill once again,” explained Dr Lokky Wai, WHO Representative in Viet Nam.
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