Antara, Jakarta – Acting Deputy of Medicine and Narcotics Control of BPOM (The Indonesian Food and Drug Authority) Rita Endang estimated that by 2050, 10 million deaths each year are possible due to antimicrobial resistance or AMR. AMR causes infections to be more difficult to treat which risks spreading disease and death.
"Antimicrobial resistance occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites change over time and no longer respond to drugs," she said on Monday, February 5, 2024.
Failing to control AMR, Rita went on, could reduce state revenues by US$3.4 trillion annually and push 24 million people into extreme poverty in the next decade. According to Rita, the impact of AMR also occurs in agriculture, livestock, food, and the environment.
"Therefore, it is necessary to involve UPT BPOM throughout Indonesia in various massive and continuous efforts to overcome AMR," said Rita.
In 2023, pharmacies that dispensed antibiotics without a doctor's prescription reached 70.49 percent, a decrease compared to 2021 and 2022.
"The types of antibiotics most dispensed without a doctor's prescription are Amoxicillin, Cefadroxil, and Cefixime," Rita explained.
Rita emphasized that health workers and common citizens have an equally important role in efforts to control AMR. Meanwhile, a lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Riau (Unri) Dewi Anggraini said that antimicrobial resistance has the potential to occur when antibiotics are not used appropriately even with a prescription or without a doctor's prescription, as is often the case in Riau.
"The Antimicrobial Resistance Control Program (PPRA) team is yet to have full-time staff and there are still doctors who are unwilling to follow antibiotics guidelines," Dewi explained.