APRIL, 2018 | The HEALTH issue antibiotics 09
Consuming our favourite food might take a wrong turn
It is important to create awareness regarding antibiotic resistance especially among farmers. Only animals infected with diseases should be treated with antibiotics.
The use of antibiotics to treat bacterial infections can create new problems such as antibiotic resistance( AMR) which affects health.
APRIL, 2018 | The HEALTH issue antibiotics 09
How safe is the meat we eat?
Consuming our favourite food might take a wrong turn
Peddling without prescription flouting the law
A
NTIBIOTICS have had very positive impact on animal health over the years especially farm animals hence it is not a surprise that antibiotics is seen as a‘ Messiah’ for farmers. It is for a fact that farmers depend on antibiotics.
One of the major reason of using antibiotics on animals such as cattle and chicken is because it allows the farmers to grow their livestock in concentrated animal feeding operations( CAFO).
Speaking to The HEALTH, Nusa Medical Clinic general practitioner Dr Zubaidi Hj Ahmad, explained why farmers used a huge load of antibiotics.
“ It is true antibiotics is famous among farmers however these practice will affect humans who consume these animal. Especially when antibiotics is being fed directly.”
“ Nitrofuran is a type of antibiotics that is widely used to prevent diseases such as pneumonia, hardware disease and hypocalcemia. Farmers turn to antibiotics in order to prevent such diseases to occur as it could inflict a huge damage to the industry,” he said.
Suprisingly, antibiotics is also widely used due to its ability to increase the size of livestock.
“ Antibiotics is fed continuously as a stimulant that will boost the size of livestock. The farmers mix the food given to farm animals with a low dose of antibiotics almost every day.
“ Farm animals fed with continuous antibiotics will develop antibiotic resistance. The antibiotic resistance will be passed to humans who are consuming these farm animals on a daily basis.
“ It will also prompt the population of good bacteria in the intestine to decrease as they are more sensitive to antibiotics consequently increasing the population of bad bacteria,” he said.
He added that there is a frightening repercussion that the public is yet to be aware of especially in the case of antibiotics resistance.
What is antibiotics resistance?
Imagine going into a war but with none of your weaponry working.
Antibiotic resistance refers to how the
prescribed antibiotics to his children for fever and cough.
“ Although this was the case, I ensure that my children only take them until they got better. I do not believe in finishing the full course although I know that this practice is no good,” he said.
When the matter of antibiotic resistance was brought up, he said that he was unaware of the issue and that antibiotics were only prescribed to bacterial infection.
His wife, Normasni Adilla Zubir by AMIRUL AZREEN ZULKIFLI aazreen @ revonmedia. com
It is important to create awareness regarding antibiotic resistance especially among farmers. Only animals infected with diseases should be treated with antibiotics.
– Dr Zubaidi
( From left) Hisham Mohammad Tahir,( back row standing) Normasni Adilla Zubir with their seven children.
believes that antibiotic consumption makes the body sluggish.
“ Over dependence on antibiotics and medications makes us ill more often which causes frequent visits to the doctors – each time seeking a higher dosage to get cured. This simply shows that the body has become resistant to medications even to antibiotics.”
“ Not all illness needs antibiotics. It’ s only for certain types of serious illness. There is no need for antibiotics for common flu and fever,” she said.
Dr Zubaidi Hj Ahmad.
body is immune to antibiotics intake hence the slightest bacteria infections may lead to a fatal ending.
Zubaidi agrees how antibiotics resistance as a deadly scenario could affect the life of millions.
“ It is important to create awareness regarding antibiotic resistance especially among farmers. Only animals infected with diseases should be treated with antibiotics. Secondly, they also need to refer to the Department of Veterinary Services Malaysia in order to understand the proper usage of antibiotics.
“ Lastly, the public should also control the amount of meat intake. It is important to avoid from consuming intestine as it contain a high amount of antibiotics residue,” he added.
Therefore, it is not a surprise when the World Health Organization( WHO) warned the world is currently facing antibiotics disaster during Antibiotics Awareness Week in December last year.
The use of antibiotics to treat bacterial infections can create new problems such as antibiotic resistance( AMR) which affects health.
– Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S Subramaniam
ANTIBIOTICS is categorised as“ group‘ A poison’ under Laws Of
Malaysia Poison Act 1952( revised 1989). This means, it is prescribed by a doctor or a veterinarian,” remarked Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society( MPS) president to The HEALTH recently.
Amrahi Buang( pic) explained that although there is no dispensing separation in the private or primary care sector such as those offered by a general practitioner or a community pharmacist, a pharmacist shouldn’ t keep medications that are not prescribed by the doctor.
“ If any pharmacist supply antibiotics without a prescription, then they are actually breaking the law,” he said.
Pointing out that MPS is a big stakeholder in antimicrobial resistance in the country, he explained that the role was timely as pharmacists had three major rolls – as drug experts, guardians of medicine and health care providers.
“ The role of doctors is to diagnose, prescribe and the output is a valid prescription slip which is then vet through by the pharmacist for errors, the type of medication, its strength, frequency, duration and prescription before dispensing it to the patient,” he said.
“ Two angles to being a guardian is to provide quality, safe and efficacious medicine to the people and the other is to protect consumers from the adverse effects of medicine such as being the guardians of antibiotics as it is a global threat”, he said.
Currently there are 16,000 pharmacist inside the register of which 11,000 are practising pharmacists.
Some 1380 pharmacists signed the MPS Antibiotic Guardian Pledge last year. Part of the commitment is to supply antibiotics with a proper and valid prescription.
Consuming meat tarnished with sulfa drugs harmful
CONSUMING the meat of animals, finfish and shellfish that has been given Sulfonamides or“ sulfa drugs could cause severe allergic reactions to humans.
Malaysian Pharmaceutical Society President Amrahi Buang explained that the antimicrobial agents were given to animals in subtherapeutic concentrations to prevent infectious diseases causes by bacteria or protozoa, to decrease the amount of feed needed and to increase the rate of weight gain.
“ The residues of sulfa drugs in meat when consumed, could cause allergic reactions, which may be different from one individual to the other, apart from the long term effect of being antimicrobial resistant,” he said.