The Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association (NVMA), has called for global response to the risk posed by Antimicrobial resistance to public health.

AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines.

This will make infections harder to treat, thus increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illnesses and death.

Dr Olutoyin Adetuberu, National President, NVMA said during the association’s Annual Leaders’ Summit on Tuesday in Abuja, that global response was needed to stop the disaster posed by AMR.

The theme of the summit is “The Role of Veterinarians in Curbing the menace of Antimicrobial Resistance“.

“Is the next disaster about to happen in the sense that if medicines no longer work, anybody who falls sick the next is death, hence it is the next pandemic, ” she said.

Adetuberu added that AMR has the potential to undermine the effectiveness of modern medicine and posed serious threat to public health.

She described the scale of the problem as alarming, adding that it was estimated that by 2050 there would be 10 million deaths as a result of AMR annually.

The president said the number of deaths would lead to loss of 100 trillion dollars to the global economy.

She said curbing the menace of AMR is everybody’s responsibility, in order to prevent the next global pandemic from happening.

“AMR is one of the most urgent and complex public health challenges of our time. We are having antimicrobial resistance because of antimicrobial misuse and abuse.

“It is a threat to the effective treatment of infections in humans and animals and has the potential to undermine the progress that has been made in modern medicine, ” she added.

Adetuberu identified promotion of responsible use of antibiotics in animals and its usage when necessary for the treatment of sick animals as a key solution to antimicrobial resistance.

She encouraged farmers to adopt good animal husbandry practices, including proper hygiene, biosecurity measures and vaccination to reduce the need for antibiotics.

The president said, veterinarians as leaders in veterinary medicine, should embrace their role and work collaboratively to address antimicrobial resistance.

She further advised patients to stick to drugs prescribed for them by medical doctors and avoid self medication.

“If you complete the dose given to you by the doctor, do not go to pharmacy and buy more; if you still feel sick go back to the physician for recommendation,” she added.

Dr Aliyu Abdullahi, who chaired the occasion, said the summit was for leaders in veterinary practice and other public health professionals to assess efforts towards minimising antibiotic misuse and abuse.

Abdullahi, who is also the Deputy Chief Whip of the Senate, urged veterinarians to incorporate more stakeholders in addressing public health challenges .

Dr Bala Muhammed, a Private Veterinary Practitioner and Public Health Consultant, said the summit brought together leaders of the profession from 36 states and FCT.

“It is a mid term stock taking and strategy that the association has deployed in different areas in ensuring that at national level and sub-national, AMR is taken as a very serious public health challenge that needs a lot of attention,” he said.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria