Episode Summary
Afreenish Amir, Ph.D., Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Project Director at the National Institute of Health in Pakistan, highlights significant increases in extensively drug-resistant typhoid and cholera cases in Pakistan and discusses local factors driving AMR in Asia. She describes the development and implementation of a National Action Plan to combat AMR in a developing country, emphasizing the importance of rational antimicrobial use, surveillance and infection control practice. Ashley's Biggest Takeaways
- AMR is a global and One Health issue.
- Pakistan has a huge disease burden of AMR.
- Contributing factors include, but are not limited to, overcrowding, lack of infection control practices, poor waste management practices and over-the-counter prescription practices.
- Promoting the rational use of antimicrobials is imperative at all levels—from tertiary care to primary care practitioners.
- Typhoid and cholera are high-burden infections in Pakistan, with typhoid being a year-round issue and cholera being seasonal.
- A holistic approach, involving various sectors and disciplines, is necessary in order to address the global AMR threat.
- Amir highlights the need for better communication and collaboration to bridge gaps and build trust between different organizations.
Featured Quotes: I've been working at the National Institutes of Health for the last 7 years now. So, I've been engaged in the development and the implementation of the national action plan on AMR, and that gave me the opportunity to explore the work in the field of antimicrobial resistance.
Reality of AMR in Pakistan
[Pakistan] is an LMIC, and we have a huge disease burden of antimicrobial resistance in the country right now. A few years back, there was a situational analysis conducted, and that has shown that there is presence of a large number of resistant pathogens within the country. And National Institutes of Health, they have started a very standardized surveillance program based upon the global antimicrobial use and surveillance system back in 2017. And [those datasets have] generated good evidence about the basic statistics of AMR within the country. So, for example, if I talk about the extensively drug-resistant typhoid, typhoid is very much prevalent in the country. Our data shows that in 2017 there were 18% MDR typhoid cases through the surveillance data. And in 2021 it was like 60%. So that has shown that how the resistance has increased a lot. A number of challenges are associated with this kind of a thing, overcrowded hospitals, poor infection prevention and control (IPC) measures. So, there is AMR within the country—there's a huge burden—and we are trying to look for the better solutions.
Local Factors Driving AMR
Bacteria, they do not know the borders. We have a close connection with the other Asian countries, and we have a long border connected with the 2 big countries, which are Afghanistan and India and Bangladesh and China. So, we see that it's not limited to 1 area. It's not regional. It's also a history of travel. When the people travel from one area to the other, they carry the pathogen as a colonizer or as a carrier, and they can infect [other] people. So, it's really connected, and it's really alarming as well. You never know how the disease is transmitted, and we have the biggest example of COVID—how things have spread from 1 country to the other, and how it has resulted in a massive pandemic. AMR is similar. We have seen that it's not limited to 1 region. We are part of this global community, and we are contributing somehow to the problem. First, I'll talk about the health care infrastructure. We do have the capacities in the hospitals, but still, there's a huge population. Pakistan is a thickly populated country. It
