The Nigerian Veterinary Medical Association (NVMA) has called for a global response to the risk posed by Antimicrobial resistance to public health.

AMR occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines.

This will make infections harder to treat, thus increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illnesses and death.

Olutoyin Adetuberu, NVMA national president, said during the association’s Annual Leaders’ Summit on Tuesday in Abuja that a global response was needed to stop the disaster posed by AMR.

“Is the next disaster about to happen in the sense that if medicines no longer work, anybody who falls sick the next is death; hence it is the next pandemic,” stated Ms Adetuberu.

Ms Adetuberu added that AMR has the potential to undermine modern medicine’s effectiveness and pose a serious threat to public health. She described the scale of the problem as alarming and added that it was estimated that by 2050 there would be 10 million deaths due to AMR annually.

The president said the number of deaths would lead to a loss of $100 trillion to the global economy. She said curbing the menace of AMR is everybody’s responsibility to prevent the next global pandemic.

“AMR is one of the most urgent and complex public health challenges of our time. We are having antimicrobial resistance because of antimicrobial misuse and abuse,” Ms Adetuberu explained. “It is a threat to the effective treatment of infections in humans and animals and has the potential to undermine the progress that has been made in modern medicine.”

The NVMA president identified the promotion of responsible use of antibiotics in animals and their usage when necessary for treating sick animals as a key solution to antimicrobial resistance.

She encouraged farmers to adopt good animal husbandry practices, including proper hygiene, biosecurity measures and vaccination to reduce the need for antibiotics.

The president said veterinarians should embrace their role and work collaboratively to address antimicrobial resistance and advised patients to stick to drugs prescribed by medical doctors and avoid self-medication.

“If you complete the dose given to you by the doctor, do not go to the pharmacy and buy more; if you still feel sick, go back to the physician for a recommendation,” the NVMA president added.

(NAN)