Cambodia launches campaign to raise awareness of antibiotic resistance

Cambodia launches campaign to raise awareness of antibiotic resistance

PHNOM PENH, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Cambodia's Ministry of Health on Monday launched a national campaign to raise awareness of antibiotic resistance, with the objective to inform about the importance of proper antibiotic use and its dangers.

"Antibiotic resistance is caused by the incorrect use of antibiotics. It has allowed many bacteria to become resistant to commonly used antibiotics, which means that many antibiotics are no longer effective to treat common infections," said a joint statement from the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health.

"This limits our ability to treat infectious diseases and contributes to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people globally every year caused by diseases that were easily treatable before," the statement said.

The situation is further aggravated by the fact that there are few new antibiotics under development to replace the antibiotics that have become ineffective because of antibiotic resistance, it said.

"Global health is facing a crisis and actions need to be taken urgently to save existing antibiotics and ensure that they remain effective. Antibiotics must only be used when truly necessary," the statement said.

It said Cambodia is among the very few countries in the region that has already developed a national action plan to combat antibiotic resistance; however, the Southeast Asian country needs substantial funding, high-level political commitment, and coordination among different sectors to fulfill this plan.

Health Ministry Secretary of State Eng Huot said collective efforts are needed to fight the threat of antibiotic resistance.

"If we do not work together, if we do not coordinate our activities, we will not be able to fight antibiotic resistance effectively," he said.

He urged the people not to use antibiotics for fever or cold flu and not to buy antibiotics without a prescription.