Today PMRA participated in a joint health talk at Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) in Lilongwe organised by the Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) National Coordinating Committee to raise awareness about the growing threat of AMR. 

The joint health talk, which targeted patients, guardians and hospital staff, was part of activities being carried out by the Ministry of Health as the country observes this year’s World Antimicrobial Resistance Awareness Week (WAAW).

In his remarks, PMRA’s National Pharmacovigilance Coordinator Anderson Ndalama said AMR was one the top global public health threats requiring concerted efforts by all stakeholders to combat. 

He called on the citizens to desist from practices that drive AMR such as misuse of antibiotics. 

Antimicrobials – including antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals, and antiparasitics – are medicines used to prevent and treat infectious diseases in humans, animals and plants.

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites no longer respond to antimicrobial medicines. As a result of drug resistance, antibiotics and other antimicrobial medicines become ineffective and infections become difficult or impossible to treat, increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness, disability and death.

The World AMR Awareness Week is a global campaign to raise awareness and understanding of AMR and promote best practices among One Health stakeholders to reduce the emergence and spread of drug-resistant infections. 

WAAW is celebrated from 18-24 November every year. The theme for the World AMR Awareness Week (WAAW) 2024 is “Educate. Advocate. Act now.”