Context

• Dr. Jitendra Singh launched theIndia’s First Indigenous Antibiotic, Nafithromycin, to Combat Drug Resistance

Key Points:

• Targets Drug-Resistant Bacteria: Nafithromycin is specifically designed to combat drug-resistant bacteria, particularly those causing pneumonia.
• Enhanced Efficacy: It is significantly more potent than existing antibiotics like azithromycin, offering higher efficacy and faster recovery.
• Reduced Treatment Duration: A shorter treatment course of just three days is sufficient, minimizing the risk of side effects and improving patient compliance.
• Improved Safety Profile: Nafithromycin has demonstrated a favorable safety profile, making it suitable for a wide range of patients.

What is Antibacterial Resistance?

• Antibiotic resistance is a condition in which bacteria or germs develop the ability to withstand the effects of antibiotics.
• These drugs are commonly used to treat bacterial infections. When bacteria become resistant, the effectiveness of these drugs is reduced and the infection becomes more difficult to treat.

Causes of Antibacterial Resistance:

• Inappropriate antibiotic use: Using antibiotics excessively or incorrectly increases the risk of bacteria developing resistance.
• Incomplete treatment: Not completely treating an infection can allow resistant bacteria to survive and spread.
• Antibiotic use in agriculture: The use of antibiotics in agriculture can also promote resistance in bacteria.

How antibiotics cause ABR?

• Excessive and inappropriate use of antibiotics can significantly contribute to the development of antibiotic resistance (ABR).
• When antibiotics are used, they kill sensitive bacteria. However, some bacteria may develop genetic mutations that make them resistant to the effects of the antibiotic.
• These resistant bacteria survive and reproduce, passing on their resistance genes to their offspring. Over time, the population of resistant bacteria grows, making infections more difficult to treat.

Initiatives taken by India for AMR:

• National Action Plan on AMR with One Health Approach Plan (2017)
• Antibiotic Stewardship Programme by ICMR (2012)
• New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase-1 (NDM-1): It is a bacterial enzyme, originating from India, that inactivates all existing p-lactam antibiotics.
• The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) high-level meeting on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) will be held on 26th September 2024.