WHO AWaRe strategy and antimicrobial stewardship to combat antimicrobial
resistance: An Indian perspective
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance is a serious problem to solve especially in
developing countries like India. Antibiotic use in India increased
several times since 2005. Many studies in India have reported
inappropriate and overuse of antibiotics which could be one of the
possible reasons for increased antibiotic resistance in country. This is
an important and urgent issue that mandate strict regulations regarding
rational use of antibiotics. World Health Organization (WHO) has done
major revision in essential medicines list which classify antibiotics in
three categories (access, watch and reserve) to ensure the availability
and correct use of antibiotics. Several countries started antimicrobial
stewardship programme to promote appropriate use of antibiotics, reduce
antibiotic resistance as well as financial burden. Indian government
implemented national action plan on antibiotic resistance in 2017 with
the aim of prompting rational use of antibiotics but it is still in its
formative stage as all stewardship components are yet to be implemented.
This review emphasizes on the importance and the need for implementing
WHO’s AWaRe classification and antimicrobial stewardship to promote
rational antibiotic use in country.