World antimicrobial week sheds light on growing and dangerous misuse of antimicrobials

Global antibiotic consumption rates increased by 46% in the last two decades, according to the Global Research on Antimicrobial Resistance (GRAM) Project carried out by the University of Oxford.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said excessive consumption of antibiotics leads to antibiotic resistance, which could kill up to 10 million people by 2050.

Hespress English spoke with Doctor Thami Ouazzani-Touhami on the occasion of the World antimicrobial week, from November 18 to 24 in order to raise awareness amongst Moroccans.

“There are different species of microbe, as there are some that are pathogenic and others that aren’t,” Doctor Touhami said, adding, “for pathogenic microbes, they can resist and coexist with our eco-system, like in the intestine, or in the respiratory system that don’t affect us, but could become harmful once they increase in number or when they develop a different type,” he explained.

“Antimicrobials have side effects, just like any other drugs, without any usefulness or therapeutic prescription, side effects may appear for sure,” he said, adding, “The unnecessary demand for these drugs should be controlled in order to avoid antibiotic-resistant infections,” he added.

Doctor Touhami said developing resistance to antibiotics is harmful, because if this happens, at a certain point it becomes really tough to cure some infections that seemed to be simple.

“Automedication is not a good act, as it pushes people not to take into granted antibiotics dangers in the medium and long term,” he added.

The Doctor stressed this act should be banned, and the Health Ministry has to obligate people to have consultations before, and not to choose pharmacy as a first destination, he said, adding, “there is no doubt that the consumption of antimicrobials in the country is exponentially increasing, as pharmacies have become everywhere.”

“It is a policy of health before raising awareness,” he said, adding, “antimicrobials are still considered as normal drugs, not like some other types of drugs, such as anti-depressants, affecting people’s consciousness,” he added.

“So, it is very important to take antibiotics only when it is necessary, and people should never take these drugs without a doctor’s prescription, as only the doctor knows what’s good for patients, in addition to the use of antibiotics properly,” he said, adding, “Patients need to have consultations with doctors in order to have the right treatment, which is not likely a usual habit among Moroccans,” he added.

Most recently, Morocco’s Health Ministry issued a statement warning of the misuse of antimicrobial medication, in celebration of the World Antimicrobial Awareness Week, saying antimicrobial resistance makes infections much harder to treat, resulting in severe illness and sometimes, death.