- 26 hospitals monitored including pvt. sector
- Stakeholder-based advisory comms. established to execute strategies to tackle AMR
The Health Ministry Deputy Director General of Laboratory Services (DDG-LS), Dr. Priyantha Atapattu said that 26 hospitals were identified to monitor antibiotic consumption as part of efforts to strengthen the national surveillance of antimicrobial use.
Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (25), Dr. Atapattu said that the facilities include 24 State hospitals and two private hospitals, where antibiotic consumption patterns will be observed.
He said that the ministry, together with the Ministries of Livestock Development and Environment and several other stakeholders, have launched a five-year One Health programme to tackle antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The Health Ministry has now entered this five-year strategic plan, he added.
According to Dr. Atapattu, advisory committees comprising all the relevant stakeholders have been established, with each committee responsible for executing strategies within its area. “We are still getting started,” he said, expressing concern that antimicrobial drug use in the private sector is reported to be twice as high as in the public health sector.
“Globally, AMR was estimated to have caused 1.27 million deaths in 2019,” he said. Projections indicate that AMR could result in 10 million deaths annually by 2050 if urgent measures are not implemented.
The consequences of high antibiotic consumption are already visible. Citing data from Sri Lanka’s National Antimicrobial Surveillance System, Dr. Atapattu said that a “high proportion of pathogens identified in patients’ blood samples show resistance to antimicrobial medicines.”
He stressed that surveillance is essential for informing policy, infection prevention and control measures, and for assessing the spread of AMR as well as the impact of local, national and global strategies.
Dr. Atapattu noted that Sri Lanka is following the Quadripartite One Health collaboration, comprising the World Health Organisation, the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Organisation for Animal Health.
He added that for the first time in history, the Sri Lankan Government has allocated Rs. 300 million in its national Budget towards the Health Ministry’s efforts to address AMR.