Dr. Lawrence Mugisha an Associate Professor of Makerere University College of Veterinary Medicine has said that poor usage of Antibiotics by people is among the leading causes of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).
Dr. Mugisha said that AMR has become a global challenge which currently kills about 700 people per year.
“Once you stop taking a prescribed dose before it gets finished, the micro-organisms of the body are exposed to the low doses of the drugs and the more this continues the higher the development of resistance,” he highlighted.
According to Dr. Mugisha, antimicrobial resistance is now a big problem world wide than ever because of the in appropriate use of the antimicrobials including antibiotics by humans.
Mugisha made these remarks at the Management of Animal Diseases and Antimicrobial use by Information and Communication Technology to control Antimicrobial resistance in East Africa (MADTECHAMR) stakeholders’ workshop held at Makerere University on Thursday.
With support from Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Makerere University in collaboration with Sweden, University of Nairobi and the International livestock research institute embarked on implementing the MAD-tech-AMR project in June that aimed at providing an ICT framework for improved monitoring and control of antimicrobial use (AMU) and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in livestock of low and middle income countries.
The project is designed to provide proof of concept, applying a framework for surveillance of AMU, diseases that trigger AMU and perceived problems with them in East African poultry production systems.
This project was able to conduct research to map out the veterinary drug distribution chain and drug use in Wakiso district. After research, the project with the help of its software engineers designed an ICT frame work to improve monitoring and control of anti-microbial use among farmers.
According to experts, poor control in health care facilities and farms, poor access to quality and affordable medicines, vaccines and diagnostics, lack of awareness and knowledge plus the lack of enforcement of legislation are the leading causes of AMR in both humans and animals.
Dr Henry Kajumbura who was a presenter in this meeting appealed to Ugandans not to misuse antibiotics and to also try as much possible to live a healthy life such that they don’t get infections.
“If you boil drinking water, sleep under a treated mosquito net and practice proper hygiene through hand washing and sanitizing it will help you not to use antibiotics un necessarily” Kajumbura added.
“If we don’t practice these proper precautions as health care workers, we are inoculating people with low immunity with these organisms hence getting infected” he articulated.
This two-day workshop was held under the theme “Monitoring of diseases and antimicrobial use in poultry farming by use of information & communication technology to control antimicrobial resistance” and it brought about different stakeholders like the media, farmers, academia, health workers amongst others.
