THE spread of super bugs resistant to antibiotics is occurring in every region of the world and poses a risk to rich and poor alike, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said earlier this week.
South Africa is no exception, and is already reporting strains of gonorrhoea that are resistant to all known drugs, the WHO said.
Releasing its first global report on antibiotic resistance, the WHO said the issue posed a major threat to public health. Germs build up resistance to medicines over time, but inappropriate use of antimicrobials and poor infection control in hospitals has dramatically sped up the process.
In South Africa there is already documented evidence that the drugs of last resort for gonorrhoea no longer work for some strains. There is also growing resistance to antibiotics used for tuberculosis and the antivirals used for HIV.
"Without urgent, co-ordinated action by many stakeholders, the world is headed for a postantibiotic era, in which common infections and minor injuries which have been treatable for decades can once again kill," WHO assistant director-general for health security Dr Keiji Fukuda said on Wednesday.
Department of Health director general Precious Matsoso said South Africa was drafting a national policy on antimicrobial resistance.
Key issues that needed to be tackled included more appropriate use of antibiotics for human health, better infection control in hospitals, and limiting the use of antibiotics as growth stimulants in agriculture, she said.
University of Cape Town head of infectious diseases Prof Marc Mendelson said that antibiotic resistance had been a growing issue for many years, but the world was now at a "tipping point".
In South Africa, there was a great deal of inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics, both by general practitioners and specialists working in hospitals, he said. "We have a lot of work to do (to change prescribing habits)," he said.
Medicines Sans Frontières said it was clear from its experience in war-torn regions that antibiotic resistance was a serious problem. "We see horrendous rates of antibiotic resistance wherever we look in our field operations," said medical director Jennifer Cohn.
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