Telangana CM to launch action plan to curb antimicrobial resistance

Dr Ranga Reddy Burri, Chairperson of G-SPARC conference along with R Govind Hari, Co-Chair, addressing the media in Hyderabad on Monday.

While COVID-19 had a clear beginning and an end, Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) does not follow the same pattern, according to Dr. Ranga Reddy Burri, President of the Infection Control Academy of India. Speaking to the media on Monday, Dr. Reddy highlighted the growing threat of AMR, which has already claimed five million lives globally — a number expected to rise significantly in the coming years.

Dr. Reddy’s remarks came ahead of the three-day Global South Conference on Infection Prevention and Control and Antimicrobial Stewardship (G-SPARC), which will be held at Shilpakala Vedika in Hyderabad from October 3 to 5. Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy will inaugurate the conference and release a State action plan to curb Antimicrobial Resistance with Minister for Health C. Damodar Raja Narasimha as the guest of honour. Dr. Reddy also serves as the conference chairperson.

“Six States in the country already have an action plan. Telangana will be the seventh State in the country to do so,” said Dr. Reddy.

“While COVID-19 took seven million lives worldwide, AMR is a silent pandemic that has the potential to surpass this toll. The misuse and overuse of antibiotics have made even once-treatable infections, like Typhoid, nearly impossible to cure,” Dr. Reddy stated. He warned that India alone is witnessing eight lakh deaths annually due to antibiotic-resistant infections. “This figure could rise to 10 million globally by 2050, putting modern medicine at risk of collapse due to bacterial resistance,” he added.

Dr. Reddy also discussed the dangers of excessive antibiotic and painkiller usage. He reminded the audience that since Professor Alexander Fleming’s discovery of penicillin in 1929, multiple generations of antibiotics have been developed, but bacteria are now outpacing modern medicine.

Key speakers at the conference include Dr. Anuj Sharma from the WHO India Office, Prof. Chedly Azzouz, Chairperson of the Infection Control Africa Network, Atul Goel, Director-General of Health Services, and K.K. Shailaja, MLA and former Health Minister of Kerala.