Representatives of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the World Health Organization (WHO) and other partners gathered through a hybrid meeting to raise awareness on the importance of all people, everywhere to become “Stewards for the Future” and to commemorate the World Antimicrobial Awareness Week from 18-24 November 2021.
From left Dr Phouth Inthavong, Deputy Director General of the Department of Livestock and Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry; Dr Latsamy Vongkhamsao, Deputy Director General of the Department of Communicable Disease Control, Ministry of Health; Mr Setouwanh Phantavongsah, Deputy Director of the Institute of Research and Statistics, Department of Environment, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and Dr Leopold Loth, International Technical Advisor, FAO ECTAD Programme. ©WHO/Vannaseng Insal
Opening today’s launch meeting of World Antimicrobial Awareness Week, Dr. Latsamy Vongkhamsao, Deputy Director General of the Department of Communicable Diseases Control, Ministry of Health, said, “It is essential to raise awareness of antimicrobial resistance and to encourage best practices of using antimicrobials among the general public, health workers and policymakers. This will help to avoid the further emergence and spread of drug-resistant infections.
Antimicrobials, such as antibiotics, are crucial to treat diseases in humans, animals, and plants. However, overuse and misuse of antimicrobials could facilitate bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites to become resistant – not responsive – to antimicrobials over time, called antimicrobial resistance, or AMR. In other words, these medicines designed to kill or stop the growth of bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites can no longer treat infectious diseases, resulting in higher costs and a longer time for patients to recover.
Participants from different sectors join the event online ©WHO/Vannaseng Insal
In 2015, the Government of Lao People’s Democratic Republic, together with countries around the world, adopted the Global Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance and committed to tackling antimicrobial resistance in the country and contributing to regional and global containment efforts.
To guide the actions taken by the country, the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, with the support of FAO and WHO, developed the National Strategic Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance in Lao PDR for 2019-2023.
In the past two years, many activities have been implemented under the strong leadership of the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, in close collaboration with development partners. For instance, the National Centre of Laboratory and Epidemiology’s capacities and the AMR surveillance network were substantially strengthened. The antimicrobial consumption monitoring system has been established at the national and hospital levels. Relevant guidelines for antimicrobial use monitoring and antimicrobial stewardship have been developed and endorsed.
The COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted the magnitude of the AMR and the need to act urgently. Antibiotics cannot cure a viral infection, such as COVID-19. Antibiotics are recommended to be used only for severe and critical COVID-19 patients. However, there are still concerns over misuse of antibiotics in treating COVID-19 patients, leading to unnecessary emergence of drug resistance among severe patients who need antibiotic treatment. These patients are less likely to survive because of AMR.
During World Antimicrobial Awareness Week 2021, there are other activities to raise awareness on the importance of all people, regardless of who they are, where they work or how often they get sick, to play an important role in making sure we continue to have effective antimicrobials to treat infectious diseases today, and for many years to come. This is in keeping with the global and regional themes of all people, everywhere, being Stewards for the Future.
Group photo of the participants at the event ©WHO/Vannaseng Insal
Besides the launch meeting today, there will be seven social media posts for seven days of the week through the Facebook page of the Ministry of Health’s Centre for Communication and Education for Health which has more than 530,000 followers. Each day, the post will convey different key messages about antimicrobial resistance to Lao audiences online.
Self-medication of antimicrobials is still widely seen, even though it is illegal to sell or buy antimicrobials without prescription. Two half-day workshops will also be organised in Vientiane Capital during World Antimicrobial Awareness Week – one for health professionals and mass organisations and another for the private sector and mass media. The workshops aim to raise awareness on the role that each person, community, and sector play in being a Steward for the Future to promote the responsible use of antimicrobials in tackling antimicrobial resistance.
WHO Officer-in-Charge to Lao PDR, Dr Jun Gao, said “This [AMR] crisis is happening now, slowly but surely, behind the COVID-19 pandemic. To save the Future where we can treat infectious diseases with antimicrobials, we need everyone to take action today”.
