By Kumba Leigh
Dr Essa Marenah, acting Executive Director of Medicines Control Agency (MCA), has warned that antimicrobial resistance is a growing problem in The Gambia; although a global menace. Antimicrobials – including antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals, and antiparasitics - are medicines used to prevent and treat infectious diseases in humans, animals and plants. Anti Microbial Resistance on the hand (AMR) occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites no longer respond to antimicrobial medicines, thereby threaten the effective prevention and treatment of an ever-increasing range of infections caused by bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi.
In this interview, Dr Marenah pointed out that antibiotics are abused in Africa. He observed that that a lot of people use self-medicated antibiotics, “and most likely the antibiotics used for a particular condition is the wrong drugs”. This, he warned, could result to a treatment failure and growth of resistance. Further on the causes, the Dr observed that AMR occurs because the right doses may not have been taken, due to lack of consideration of frequency, and some healthcare workers not specifying drug use to patients.
Further on the factors for Antimicrobial Resistance, Dr Marenah noted that they are many and include the incessant use of a particular drug prescribed for a previous illness, without the patient visiting health facility or personnel for fresh prescription or confirmation. This is because the symptoms may appear similar but the illnesses may be different. He mentioned poor quality of drugs due to poor storage condition, as another factor for antimicrobial resistance, pointing out that a medicine could get bad even well before the expiry dates, depending on the manner of storage.
On the impact of the AMR, the MCA acting Executive Director said it poses huge economic burden on a country in terms of mobility, a surge in the mortality rate, and increase in health expenditure. The Dr went on to recommend for the subjection of drugs to quality control testing in an accredited lab, in order to ascertain the evidence of a good medicine. He warned that expired medicines are considered substandard and bad medicine. Some Gambians say they resort to use of left-over medicines due to the expensive nature of drugs.
