Use of antibiotics should be regulated

Stressing the need to regulate the frequent use of antibiotics, Prathap C Reddy, chairman, Apollo Hospitals said that the development of antibiotics and antimicrobials have played an important role in the rise of drug resistant diseases.

 This was at the inauguration of the second annual conference of the Clinical Infectious Diseases Society (CIDS) here on Friday.

 “Their use should be regulated because microorganisms can develop resistance to these drugs.

 The more we use antibiotics, the higher the chances for drug resistant microorganisms to emerge,” he said.

 He urged the medical fraternity look at infectious and drug resistance diseases from a different angle and said that one must adapt to the changing scenario He also added that there was a greater need to educate people at all levels while outlining the steps needed to tackle this global issue.

 “The mechanism that has been in place so far has worked wonders.

 But there is a pressing need to recognise emerging infections early enough so that they can be controlled before they become crises.

 The goal here is not just controlling the outbreak in one patient.

 Rather, hospitals need to come together and take steps to tackle pandemics,” he said.

 The main theme of this conference was the emergence of communicable diseases with a focus on their prevention and treatment.

 The two-day long conference had workshops and lectures by several international and national experts on the topic, with a pre-conference workshop after the inauguration.

 Earlier, Dilip Mathai, president of CIDS addressed the media and stressed on the need for awareness to minimise the spread of infectious diseases.

 “Diseases are spread because of poor hygiene.

 Our socio-cultural behaviour does not really inculcate the habit of washing hands before and after meals.

 So it’s necessary to spread awareness about hygiene and its effectiveness in preventing communicable diseases,” he said.

 He added that awareness can only be brought about from the grassroot level.

 “And for that, we organise school programmes to tell them that good hygiene can prevent dangerous diseases,” he said.