PESHAWAR, Jul 30 (APP):A dissemination event regarding Policy Brief on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Surveillance in Pakistan was held here at Livestock Complex Peshawar on Tuesday.
According to a press release issued here, the event was aimed at holding discussion on the findings of a pilot surveillance study conducted from July 2020 to December 2022 by Fleming Fund in collaboration with the Ministry of National Food Security & Research.
Key stakeholders, including government officials, veterinarians, and public health experts came together to chart a path towards addressing AMR in Pakistan.
Praising the efforts of DAI’s Fleming Funds project’s Dr. Asal Khan, Director General (Extension) and Dr Asad Ali Shah, Director, Livestock & Dairy Development Department Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, said that AMR has emerged as a major health concern across the globe including Pakistan, resulting in an alarming increase in the burden of infections due to multi-drug resistant organisms, while limiting the choice of antimicrobials for treatment.
AMR results mortality and economic losses in animal’s sector. They appreciated the support of Fleming Fund for containment of AMR in low- and middle-income countries including Pakistan.
Additionally, Mr. Ali Shan Azhar Senior Manager for the Fleming Funds Country Grant Pakistan, and Dr Abdul Rehman Advisor Animal Health FF, on the occasion explained salient achievements of FF project during Phase-1 from 2019 to 2023 and elaborated broad thematic areas of the project support during Phase-2 from 2024 to 2025 including production and analysis of quality AMR/ AMC and burden of disease data, sharing quality data with decision-makers and sustainability.
They also said that it is high time we realize the importance of this subject and make amends in correcting our course of veterinary practices and regulatory compliance.
The speakers apprised participants that Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) stands as a formidable global health crisis, its impact keenly felt in Pakistan, claiming five million lives annually worldwide, with an estimated 60,000 deaths occurring in Pakistan alone.
Improper antimicrobial use in both human and animal sectors has fueled the rise of resistant microbes, posing a significant challenge to public health systems.
Pakistan, as the world’s fifth most populous country with over 231 million livestock (large/small ruminants) and 2 billion Commercial Poultry, bears a significant burden of AMR.
Responding to this challenge, Pakistan instituted a National Action Plan (NAP) in 2017, aiming to mitigate AMR across human and veterinary sectors.
In collaboration with the Ministry of National Food Security & Research and the Fleming Fund Country Grant Phase I (Department of Health and Social Care, United Kingdom), a pilot surveillance study was conducted from July 2020 to December 2022 while estimating the prevalence of antibiotic resistance in selected bacteria within poultry and large ruminants (cattle and buffaloes).
The study’s focal points included enhancing surveillance systems and gauging antibiotic resistance prevalence in healthy food animals. Objectives encompassed bolstering epidemiological skills, refining sample processing and diagnostics, and fortifying data management, all while assessing resistance levels in select bacteria.
Key findings from the study include extremely high resistance to various antibiotics in both cattle/buffalo and poultry isolates, geographically elevated levels of resistance across all provinces of Pakistan and seasonal variations in resistance patterns, highlighting the need for tailored interventions.
Moving forward, the participants emphasized the importance of implementing targeted interventions based on the report’s recommendations, enhancing surveillance activities, and fostering collaboration at federal and provincial levels.
Sustainable funding mechanisms to be developed to ensure the long-term effectiveness of AMR surveillance activities in the livestock sector.
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