Overuse and misuse of antibiotics in food is rife in Southeast Asia, a Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) official said on January 31 (Illustrative photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA)- Overuse and misuse of antibiotics in food isrife in Southeast Asia, a Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) official saidon January 31, warning of serious risks for people and animals as bacterialinfections become more resistant to treatment.
The FAO's ChiefVeterinary Officer Juan Lubroth issued the warning on the sidelines of aninternational meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, which focused on antimicrobialresistance (AMR).
Hesaid that threat of AMR was magnified in places, like Asia's megacities, wherethere was high population growth and intense agriculture development.
SoutheastAsia is a hotpot because of the population growth, urbanisation and theproduction of food, Lubroth said.
Areport published on January 29 by the World Health Organisation said that a globalsurveillance system had found widespread occurrence of antibiotic resistanceamong 500,000 people with suspected bacterial infections across 22 countries.
Marc Sprenger,Director of WHO's Antimicrobial Resistance Secretariat, said some of theworld's most common and potentially most dangerous infections are provingdrug-resistant.
A 2016 report by the British governmentprojected 100 trillion USD in losses by 2050 if nothing is done to reverse thetrend, and estimated that the annual toll resulting from AMR will climb to 10million deaths in the next 35 years. Ninetypercent of those deaths would be in the developing world, Lubroth added.
Hesaid the FAO advocates educating farmers about the dangers of usingantibiotics to promote growth in animals, and stronger enforcement ofrules governing food production.-VNA
