Liberia Celebrates One Health Day 2019 and World Antibiotic Awareness Week
Monrovia— Since 2017, the One Health (OH) approach has documented tremendous progress for raising awareness on emerging One Health issues from rabies prevention and control to joint zoonotic disease investigations and response as well as Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).
To mark 2019 International One Health Day, human, animal and environmental health professionals plus the media and development partners gathered nationwide from 18-23 November to increase countrywide awareness on AMR and to encourage best practices among the public health workers and policy makers to avoid the further emergence and spread of AMR.
Since their discovery, antibiotics have served as the cornerstone to modern medicine. However, the persistent overuse and misuse of antibiotics in human and animal health have encouraged the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance, which occurs when microbes such as bacteria, become resistance to the drugs that are normally used to treat them.
The 2019 theme for the One Health Day Celebrations globally and in Liberia is “Antibiotics: handle with care, think twice, seek advice or pay the price”. This year's theme is a deliberate call to action for all Liberians to consider how they can make changes in their everyday use of antibiotics to reduce one of the biggest threats to global Health- Antibiotic Resistance.
Concerted efforts through OH approach is key to the prevention of AMR
In his keynote message, Prof. Ezekiel F. Hallie, Assistant Professor and Dean, School of Pharmacy, University of Liberia said AR is putting the achievement of modern medicine at risk. He added that given the ease and frequency with which people now travel, AR is a global problem, requiring efforts from all nationals and many sectors.
“When infections can no longer be treated by the first line of antibiotic, more expensive medicines must be used. A longer duration of illness and treatment, often in hospitals, increases health care costs as well as the economic burden of families and societies.”
Prof. Hallie recommended that to effectively detect, respond and prevent outbreaks of zoonosis and food safety problems, epidemiological data and laboratory information should be shared across sectors. “Government officials, researchers, and workers across sectors at the local, national, regional and global levels should implement joint responses to health threats.”
Kimberline Bell, Foreign Service Officer, USAID disclosed that One Health concept is aligned with the Global Health Security Agenda aiming at improving animal and human health delivery systems.
She applauded the government of Liberia for acquiring significant progress in the OH approach, “We are here today to use the OH approach to address critical health challenges.”
Madam Bell called on the government to continuously adopt and improve the OH platform to become an effective tool to develop more robust national campaign to prevent and combat AMR. She re-emphasized the continuous support of USAID in supporting the government in the animal and human health sectors.
Also speaking at the event, Hon. Dr. Wilhelmina Jallah, Minister of Health called on all actors to carry out vigorous awareness on the use of Antimicrobials. She added that the One Health concept cuts across all sectors including national, regional and global levels and that it needs massive awareness across the counties.
“One Health represents the holistic vision to address complex challenges that threaten human and animal health, food security, poverty and the environment where diseases flourish.” Madam Jallah added that prevention of infectious diseases is key to reducing the number of infections in the country.
Dr. Abebe Wolde, FAO Emergency Center for Transboundary Animal Diseases (ECTAD), Country Team Leader (CTL) mentioned that, “AMR not only threatens the efficiency of antimicrobials in the public health but also in animal health, and thus negatively impacting on the welfare of livestock, profitability of livestock production and safety of animal products.”
“A critical component in mitigating the emergence of AMR in the livestock sector is to reduce the use of antibiotics by applying prudent and medically rational use. Good production practices such as regular cleaning and disinfection, basic biosecurity and personal hygiene would help in preventing diseases and the need for antimicrobials for treatment,” he mentioned.
Dr. Mosoka P. Fallah, Acting Director General, National Public Health Institute of Liberia- NPHIL pointed out that Liberia has made some strides in the prevention and control of AMR, but there is still a challenge that needs the attention of all actors. He stated that the Global Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System (GLASS) was launched by the World Health Organization (WHO) General Assembly in 2015 and Liberia is one of the 77 countries that are members of GLASS, and one of the five countries in West Africa that are members of GLASS. According to him, this is a great advancement and achievement as it relates to AMR. He stressed the need for field and research data to investigate and evaluate the magnitude of AMR in human and animal health sectors in Liberia.