Experts at Global Ayurveda Festival in Kerala deliberate on antimicrobial resistance

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], December 6 : India ranks among the countries with the highest mortality rates due to antimicrobial resistance (AMR), experts at the Global Ayurveda Festival said.
Global Ayurveda Festival (GAF), where experts discuss the role traditional medicines can play in overcoming the threat of AMR, which is rising in almost every part of the world, prompting WHO to declare it as one of the top health threats to the world.
Speaking on the issue, Professor Thomas Rampp from the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany, an expert in integrative medicine, said the US and European countries also face the threat from AMR, but the risk to countries in Asia and Latin America is bigger.
"The resistance to antibiotics is not a new phenomenon and resistance to Penicillin was reported in 1940, though the drug was put into use by 1928. This led to the creation of newer antibiotics to overcome that, but in the last three decades, no new antibiotics have been developed and this has aggravated the problem," he said.
Professor Rampp also said that the use and overuse of antibiotics are leading to their resistance. He stated that this is not limited to the medical field, as over 80 percent of the antibiotics produced in the world are used in farms and fisheries, which inevitably enter our food chain.
"The reasons for resistance to antibiotics come from the overprescribing of antibiotics, patients not finishing the treatment properly, the overuse of antibiotics in livestock and fish farming, poor infection control in hospitals, and poor sanitation," he added.
He also emphasized that traditional medicine systems like Ayurveda can contribute significantly to improving the situation, as they approach problems and work to improve immunity. This can prevent illness and stop the unnecessary use of antibiotics.
"Ayurveda has always focused on providing a balanced diet, and modern science now emphasizes the importance of microbiomes in the gut region, which is essential to building up immunity," he said.
Speaking on the same issue, Subarna Roy, director of ICMR, National Institute of Traditional Institute in Karnataka, said their studies showed that resistance to antibiotics is different in various areas within the Karnataka state.
He warned that AMR is contributing to the rise of diseases like diphtheria in some areas of India. A network of facilities established to monitor the AMR situation in India has identified about 10 pathogens that are proving to be dangerous.
"Sometimes antibiotics are prescribed even though they will not cure the disease but merely reduce the symptoms. The national health policy says alternative methods to treat infectious diseases should be considered, and this is where Ayurveda can play a vital role," he said.
"Ayurveda practitioners are already helping the fight against AMR as they treat patients without prescribing antibiotics," he added.
Vice President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar inaugrated the fifth Global Ayurveda Festival (GAF 2023) on December 1 at Greenfield International Stadium at Karyavattom in Thiruvananthapuram, setting the stage for the largest-ever conclave on Ayurveda spanning five days.