Kochi, Nov 7 : Kerala Health Minister Veena George on Thursday announced that a campaign against the indiscriminate use of antibiotics has commenced in all the state's 14 districts.

This campaign is to confront antimicrobial resistance (AMR) which is one of the top global public health and development threats as the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials in humans, animals, and plants are the main drivers in the development of drug-resistant pathogens.

Besides the launching of the awareness campaign against the indiscriminate use of antibiotics, Kerala has decided from now on, antibiotics will have to be given in a blue cover and a doctor's prescription will be compulsory for people when they buy it from medical shops.

On Thursday, health officials' door-to-door campaign in Ernakulam to bring about awareness of the indiscriminate use of antibiotics reached two lakh homes and is expected to reach all the homes in the district shortly.

The campaign in Ernakulam is being carried out by 2,257 trained health workers. The team has also covered areas where migrant workers are staying and the awareness class was conducted in their mother tongues.

The awareness programme points out that no one should take antibiotics without a doctor prescribing it and the entire course prescribed by the doctor has to be completed. The people are also told that antibiotics should not be shared between people and utmost care has to be taken while disposing of old antibiotics.

The Kerala government has taken up this programme very seriously as international studies have shown that AMR affects countries in all regions and at all income levels and the worst affected are the low and middle-income countries. Studies have also revealed that bacterial AMR was directly responsible for 1.27 million global deaths in 2019 and contributed to 4.95 million deaths.

/IANS