Mongolia's Minister of Health, Dr Tsogtsetseg Ayush, MoH Department Directors and officers, hospital directors, doctors, pharmacists and many other representatives of health and agriculture sector of Mongolia as well as the staff of WHO in Mongolia have signed yesterday a Pledge to Use Antibiotics Responsibly at the opening of the World Antibiotics Awareness Week (WAAW) to be marked from 14-20 November. The slogan of this year’s WAAW is “Think Twice” before prescribing antibiotics.
“We, in Mongolia, are facing many complications due to irrational use of antibiotics. If one of two children is responsive to an antibiotics treatment, the other one is not. This is directly connected to a wrong use of antibiotics that cause antibacterial resistance,” said the Minister of Health, Dr A.Tsogtsetseg at the media-packed WAAW 2016 opening ceremony in the Ministry of Health. She further pointed that doctors, public health professionals, health sector workers, pharmacists, educators, herders and agriculturists, and of course parents – all are responsible for setting up a rational use of antibiotics. “Please stop giving antibiotics to your children based on advice of a pharmacist in a drug store,“ pleaded the Minister addressing every parent of Mongolia. “Antibiotics should be prescribed by a doctor and only when they are needed.”
Dr Erdenechimeg Enkhee, an officer with WHO Representative Office in Mongolia, added that prescribed medications should be taken strictly according to doctor’s advice and no left over antibiotic drugs should be used by anyone. One of the sector that indiscriminately uses antibiotics in Mongolia is animal farming and agriculture. “Antibiotics are heavily used in the livestock and agricultural sectors hence we’ve been consuming food products, milk and meat that contain traces of antibiotics. This is one of the factors that contribute to antimicrobial resistance”, says E.Erdenechimeg underlining an importance of a multi-sectoral cooperation on rational use of antibiotics.
The Ministry of Health and WHO has been giving an importance in public awareness raising and education about careful and rational use of antibiotics, an empowering knowledge that can change behaviour of consumers. Hence the WAAW 2017 campaign similarly to the AAW 2015 is conducted in partnerships with the key media outlets with urban and rural outreach and a notable presence in social media.
WHO is supporting number of activities during the WAAW 2017 and beyond including trainings and discussions on appropriate prescription, rational use of antibiotics and antimicrobial resistance among health workers of province and district Health Departments, province, soum and family health centers, pharmacists and students of the Mongolian National University of Medical Sciences (MNUMS), its branches and other medical schools. During the WAAW 2016 a distance training will be conducted from the Center for Health Development for aimags’ health professionals on dispensing antibiotics only by prescription. The MNUMS has conducted a successful video competition among students on appropriate use of antibiotics. Moreover with WHO support, the University has developed a comprehensive package of an interactive training material on antimicrobial resistance and screened it for the first time during the WAAW 2016 to students and medical residents.
