Govt should step up research into curbing antimicrobial resistance: PSSC

 

The Parliamentary Special Select Committee (PSSC) on health today proposed that the government steps up research to face the challenges of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Committee chairperson Suhaizan Kaiat said the proposal needs to be made ahead of Budget 2025 and the preparation of the 13th Malaysia Plan.

“Besides, this committee also suggested that the government provide sufficient funds for AMR prevention measures in the Health Ministry, the Agriculture and Food Security Ministry, and the Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Ministry.

“This committee also suggested that measures to control the release of antibiotics in the river, boat areas, and other places should also be prepared; in addition to increasing people’s awareness to use antimicrobials safely and responsibly,” he said in a press conference in Parliament today.

He also asked the Health Ministry and related ministries to present an integrated strategy to deal with the AMR challenge to the committee in the near future.

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Suhaizan said the committee is of the opinion that the government, especially the Health Ministry, needs to step up efforts to curb, control, and prevent the AMR trend before it becomes a public health catastrophe, especially at the global level.

“This effort requires a multi-dimensional integrated approach. For example, curbing the improper use of antibiotics in agriculture.

“Failure to act will cause the public to face risks including increased death rates, longer hospital stays, increased financial burdens on the healthcare system, affecting the ability to fight pandemics, and threats to food safety and security,” he said.

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He said the committee had been informed that Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad had chaired the Joint Position Paper Ratification Meeting on AMR at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland last May.

The paper will then be taken to a high-level meeting at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) this September to be put on the global health agenda.

- Bernama