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As the world marks the 2023 World Antimicrobial Resistance Awareness Week (WAAW) from November 18-24, 2023, St. Rachael’s Pharma has urged president Bola Tinubu to centrally purchase antibiotics and distributeat subsidised rates to indigent patients in federal teaching hospitalsand medical centres, reminiscence of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF)strategy of 1994.
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Chairman of St. Rachael’s Pharma, Akinjide Adeosun, in a statement, yesterday, in Lagos, said the move would accelerate industrialisation, manufacturing, as well as boost medicine security with attendant job creation.
He noted that the development would stabilise price regime, promoteavailability and affordability of the products amid prevailing harsheconomic realities in the country.
According to him, the palliative has a twin-benefit of reducing deaths and elongating lifespan of pharmaceutical companies in Nigeria. He said Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) had already caused substantialsicknesses and deaths globally, accounting for approximately 1.27million fatalities in 2019, projections suggesting that by 2050, itcould kill as many as 10 million people yearly.
Adeosun said that over the past century, antibiotics had enhanced the country’s capacity to treat infections and reduce mortality. He said while bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant, a limited pipeline of new antibiotics would take Nigeria to the old dark days.
The chairman noted that the theme of this year’s event, “PreventingAntimicrobial Resistance Together,” calls for cross-sectoralcollaboration to preserve effectiveness of antimicrobials.
He said to effectively reduce AMR, all sectors must use antimicrobialsprudently and appropriately, as well as take preventive measures todecrease the incidence of infections and adopt good practices in thedisposal of antimicrobial contaminated waste.
Adeosun restated that AMR “is a threat to humans, animals, plants andthe environment,” appealing to stakeholders in the public and privatesectors to forge a common front against antimicrobial resistance forimproved life expectancy for Nigerians.
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