The extensive use of antimicrobial drugs has
resulted in drug resistance that threatens to reverse the medical advances and
abuse of antibiotics in breeding animal is one of cause of unsafe food, warned
health experts yesterday.
At a
seminar on food safety and hygiene from overuse of banned chemicals in
husbandry held by the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Associations
(VUSTA), Professor Dau Ngoc Hao fro the Vietnam Animal Health Association, said
that Vietnam is the only country to sell antibiotics without doctors’
prescription.
In 2015,
the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development implemented a survey on
antibiotics use in husbandry in five provinces including the southern provinces
of Dong Ngai, Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Binh Dương, and the northern provinces of Thai
Binh and Nam Dinh.
Survey
result showed that antibiotics were routinely fed to livestock, poultry, and
fish on industrial farms. Most of breeding farms use antibiotics in prevention
and treatment for pigs; 68 percent of farms use the animal feeds with
antibiotics to prevent and stimulate growth for animals; 24.4 percent of farms
blend antibiotics into feed with purpose of disease prevention and growth
stimulation.
Using
antibiotics not only sees in animal breeding but also in breeding aquatic
breeding. Authorities discovered that aquatic farmers used many banned
antibiotics in raising tra, ro phi and loc fishes, shrimp, prawn. Worse, banned
Chloramphenicol (CAP) was detected to be used in breeding and preserving
aquatic products which are sold across the country.
According
to Dr. Nguyen Kim Van from Vietnam Plant Protection Association, most plant
protection drugs in Vietnam are imported. Since 2006, the country has imported
over 70,000 tons of such drugs a year spending US$210-774million. Over 90
percent of imported plant protection drugs are from China.
Experts
said that pig and fish farmers did not wait for ‘withdrawal time’ which is the
amount of time that the antibiotic has to be withdrawn from the animal before
it is slaughtered and sold in market, accordingly residues in animal is
threatening consumers’ health.
Antibiotics
that might result in deposition of residues in meat, milk and eggs and people
also consume antibiotics leading to rampant drug resistance.
Drug
resistance is becoming the most concern of the World Health Organization (WHO).
Vietnam is ranked as one of the countries with high rate of patients suffering
drug resistance. The reason for that is not only people’s uncontrolled taking
drug but also because they have to eat antibiotics in animals.
Dr.
Nguyen Quoc Binh from Cho Ray Hospital Vietnamese people have habit of buying
antibiotics without doctors’ prescription leading to drug resistance. As per a
survey of selling antibiotics in northern urban and rural districts carried out
by the Ministry of Health, it showed that consumers and pharmacy assistants’
awareness of using antibiotics and drug resistance is low. Most of people buy
the drug without doctors’ prescription with 88 percent in cities and 91 percent
in countryside areas.
Medical
experts said that there is drug resistance to some new antibiotics which have
been used in the country just for 10 years. Drug resistance is becoming serious
gradually resulting in low long hospitalization and more medical cost, head of
the Health Ministry’s Medical Examination and Treatment Department Professor
Luong Ngoc Khue said.
Mr. Khue
petitioned related agencies to early have a severe sanction on breeding farms
which overuse antibiotics and penalties on pharmacies to sell antibiotics
without prescription.
Furthermore,
in hospitals, Prof. Khue proposed doctors conducting blood culture regularly
for diagnosis of multi-resistance and managers should considered old
prescription to issue penalties on doctors who write prescription with
antibiotics unnecessarily.
Tuong Lam
- translated by Anh Quan
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