Nations must frame policies on antibiotic resistance: Experts

Hyderabad: National policies need to be formulated to tackle the issue of rising antibiotic use and resistance, experts on infectious diseases said here today.

“Antibiotic resistance is a very big task for the government. What we have tried to do is create a deliberate process of knowledge gathering and collaboration that is never antagonistic to the government but complementary,” a release quoted Hellen Gelband, Associate Director, Centre for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy (CDDEP) based in the US, as saying.

She was speaking at a symposium on Antibiotic Resistance: National Actions Contribute to a Global Solution at the ongoing international conference on infectious diseases here.

Gelband called upon nations to put in place policies to deal with rising antibiotic use and resistance.

Talking about the efforts made in India to deal with antibiotic resistance, N K Ganguly, former head of the Indian Council of Medical Research and distinguished scientist, said “India hosted the first global forum on bacterial infections.”

Representatives and experts on infectious diseases from India and abroad spoke on the occasion, the release added.