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Antimicrobial Resistance in Developing Countries pp 447–461Cite as

Containment of Antimicrobial Resistance in Developing Countries and Lessons Learned

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Abstract

Developing countries are not an exemption when we describe the gravity of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and its impact in morbidity and mortality. Emergence of AMR in poor-resource countries is a complex issue that transcends all ethnic groups, races, classes, etc.; however, human beliefs, practices, and behavior are very similar and AMR has lot to do with its growing risk in treatment failures. This situation is not indicative that resistance is a health-care problem until data mining shows inexplicable increasing death rates with many of the most prevalent infectious diseases. In the meantime, emergence of multiresistance microorganisms continues to rise. Multidrug-resistant malaria and tuberculosis are the most frequent situations where treatment failures translate into high rates of morbidity and mortality with the concomitant effects on increasing human suffering, treatment costs, and public health crisis. Often though, policy makers and clinicians do not think outside the box and neglect to investigate antimicrobial resistance as a cause of treatment failures. A good example of it is seen in acute respiratory infections – particularly in children under 5 years of age.

We now confront an alarming situation when pharmaceuticals have forsaken the development of new antimicrobials for considering them of low profitability. This and the occurrence of MDR organisms have brought back old therapies previously abandoned. The availability and access to antimicrobial agents in the developing world are certainly much less than in industrialized countries. On the contrary, access and availability of substandard and counterfeit antimicrobial drugs are quite easy and spread out in poor-resource countries. Most of the developing countries lack effective policies and regulations in place to guarantee effective and timely access to essential medications. This, in turn translates to the public seeking easy solutions with inadequate treatment schemes.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    WHONET is Windows-based database software developed for the management of microbiology laboratory data and the analysis of antimicrobial susceptibility test results. See http://www.who.int/drugresistance/whonetsoftware/en/

  2. 2.

    http://www.ansorp.org/

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Alliance for the Prudent Use of Antibiotics, Boston, MA, USA

    Aníbal de J. Sosa

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  1. Aníbal de J. Sosa
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Advisor Alliance for the Prudent Use of, Tufts University, Kneeland St. 75, Boston, 02111, U.S.A.

    Aníbal de J. Sosa

  2. Dept. Zoology, Makerere University Kampala, Kampala, Uganda

    Denis K. Byarugaba

  3. Fundación Lusara, Playa Rosarito 353, Mexico, 08810, Mexico

    Carlos F. Amábile-Cuevas

  4. Depts. Laboratory Medicine, National Taiwan Univ. Hosp., Taipei, Taiwan R.O.C.

    Po-Ren Hsueh

  5. Centre for Microbiology Research, Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), Nairobi, 00100, Kenya

    Samuel Kariuki

  6. Dept. Biology, Haverford College, Lancaster Avenue 370, Haverford, 19041, U.S.A.

    Iruka N. Okeke

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Sosa, A. (2010). Containment of Antimicrobial Resistance in Developing Countries and Lessons Learned. In: Sosa, A., Byarugaba, D., Amábile-Cuevas, C., Hsueh, PR., Kariuki, S., Okeke, I. (eds) Antimicrobial Resistance in Developing Countries. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-89370-9_25

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