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Issue 16
23rd
August 2010
C&I Magazine
New superbug opens debate in India
Vidya Krishnan,
23/08/2010
A new antibiotic resistant ‘superbug’
from India and Pakistan has made
its way into UK hospitals. The
Indian health ministry has rubbished
the health alert surrounding the
bacterium New Delhi Metallo-1
(NDM-1), but it has triggered a
national debate revolving around the
need for an antibiotic policy.
Soon after the UK Department of
Health issued an alert, warning its
citizens against opting for surgeries
in India, the Indian health ministry’s
top officials appeared before the
media, insisting that the alert was
intended to harm the flourishing
medical tourism industry in the
country. ‘It is totally irrational to
make an India specific comment,
link the infection to the country’s
antibiotic policy and issue a global
warning against choosing India
as a medical destination,’ said
Vishwa Mohan Katoch, director
general, Indian Council of Medical
Research (ICMR).
NDM-1 is resistant to the
carbapenam class of antibiotics –
drugs that are usually held back to
treat antibiotic resistant infections.
Katoch, however, conceded that
the issue needed addressing. ‘One
cannot deny that there is a need
to change the mindset of Indian
people. That is a broader issue,
which will require debates and
awareness campaigns, sustained by
legislative pressures. Having said
that, resistance to NDM-1 cannot be
linked to India’s antibiotic policy,’
he added.
Meanwhile, the list of ailments,
such as typhoid, malaria and
tuberculosis, which are becoming
harder to treat due to drug resistance
are constantly growing.
A 2009 study conducted in Delhi
government dispensaries highlights
the magnitude of the problem.
According to the study – funded by
World Health Organization (WHO)
– the misuse of antibiotics was
alarmingly high, largely because of
over-the-counter (OTC) availability.
Even for diseases, which do not
require antibiotics – like diarrhoea
or acute respiratory infections –
70% of the patients were prescribed
antibiotics in private hospitals. Only
40% were offered antibiotics in
government hospitals.
Experts are viewing the
‘superbug’ health alert as an
opening to demand greater
surveillance of antibiotic usage in
the medical community. ‘Of course
we mind if a health hazard is named
after our city. But we cannot live
in denial anymore,’ said Anita
Kotwani, associate professor in
the department of pharmacology
at the VP Chest Institute and one
of the doctors who conducted the
WHO funded surveillance project
on antibiotic use. ‘There is an
urgent need to study the antibiotic
resistance in the community.
There are no records maintained
for patients and we do not have
guidelines or policies to follow.
Considering India’s potential for
medical tourism, it is time to start
changing these age old methods,’
she said.