Antibiotic Overuse: CMBB calls on Ministry of Health to regulate

The Centre for Molecular Biosciences and Biotechnology (CMBB) of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike in Abia, has called on the Federal Ministry of Health to regulate the use of antibiotics in Nigeria.

The Director of CMBB, Prof. Ifeoma Ijeh, made the appeal during the opening ceremony of a four-day workshop organised by the center in Umudike.

Dangers of antibiotics misuse: According to Ijeh, the excessive use and misuse of antibiotics can lead to the gradual development of resistance, making it difficult to treat some diseases.

Ijeh emphasised the importance of prescription and sensitivity tests, stating that standard hospitals conduct tests to identify antibiotics to which organisms can respond before treating patients.

She noted that in developed countries, individuals cannot purchase antibiotics without prescriptions.

The workshop, in collaboration with Nottingham Trent University, UK, aims to introduce new tools to identify resistant trends and sensitive antibiotics, as well as expose participants to international experts in Antimicrobial Resistance.

What you should know: Antimicrobial resistance happens when germs like bacteria and fungi develop the ability to defeat the drugs designed to kill them. That means the germs are not killed and continue to grow.

Back to the news: “The workshop would also expose participants to international experts in the field of Antimicrobial Resistance, who would serve as key resource persons,” said Ijeh.

What to expect from the workshop: The workshop participants, drawn from colleges that deal with biological science research in the university and sister institutions in the South East, will acquire skills required for DNA extraction from microbial sources, gel preparation, gene expression, and antimicrobial resistance.

The theme of the workshop is “Molecular and Phenotypic Characterization of Antibiotic Resistance Using Biofilm Markers.”

The workshop was sponsored by the African Research Excellence Fund of the Medical Research Council, UK.