Paulina Quintao – The Ministry of Health in conjunction with the World Health Organization (WHO) has established a national taskforce to help combat the rise in antimicrobial resistance.
The aim of the taskforce is to raise awareness among communities and health personnel on the proper use of antibiotics.
The National Director of Pharmacy and Medical Equipment, Jonia da Cruz, said antimicrobial resistance had become an increasing threat in Timor-Leste due to the poor quality of drugs available and misuse of antibiotics, which are easily obtained without a doctor's prescription.
"We have established the focal points at the national and the municipality level and the taskforce commission will develop an action plan, particularly to increase the knowledge of health personnel and communities on the use of medicine," said da Cruz at Hotel Timor in Dili.
Antimicrobial resistance occurs when bacteria, fungi, viruses and parasites mutate or change to protect themselves against certain drugs, rendering standard treatments for many common infections ineffective. Resistant forms of bacteria can also spread to other people.
Some of the major causes of antimicrobial resistance include the overuse of medications or not following the correct dose and times as prescribed by a doctor.
Da Cruz acknowledged that Timor-Leste had yet to introduce standard guidelines on the use of antibiotics and therefore relied on information they received during their studies abroad when attending patients. She urged Timorese people not to use medications unnecessarily or without a doctor's prescription.
Although many courses of antibiotics require the patient to continue taking the drug for up to seven days, she said in reality many people simply took the drugs until they they felt better and then stopped taking them.
Meanwhile, WHO representative to Timor-Leste Dr Rajesh Pandav said antimicrobial resistance was now a major global public health threat and meant that many infections that were once easily curable with antibiotics were becoming increasingly difficult to treat. "The government and communities need to take action," he said.
As well as launching an awareness campaign, he said WHO had also provided training to health personnel, including doctors, nurses and laboratory staff, on the correct use of antibiotics.
A global action plan to tackle antimicrobial resistance was endorsed last year at the 68th World Health Assembly.
The plan incorporates five key goals, including improving awareness about the issue among health personnel about the resistance of antibiotics, strengthening monitoring and research, reducing the incidence of infection, optimizing the use of antimicrobial agents and increasing investment in new medicines, diagnostic tools and vaccines.
In 2012, WHO reported a gradual increase in resistance to HIV drugs and in 2013 there were about 480,000 new cases of multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis.
WHO said extensively-drug-resistant tuberculosis, in which first- and second-line treatment options are no longer effective, has also been identified in 100 countries, including Timor-Leste.