Today, Dr. Ahmed Taha, Chairman of the General Authority for Accreditation and Health Control, participated in the activities of the second medical conference for the optimal use of antibiotics and infection control, which is organized by the Public Authority for Health Care, chaired by Dr. Ahmed Al-Sobky, and held under the auspices of Dr. Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Minister of Health and Population, and with the honorary presidency of Dr. Mohamed Awad Taj El-Din, Advisor to the President of the Republic for Health and Prevention Affairs.
During his speech at the conference, Dr. Ahmed Taha confirmed that the standards for drug management and safety issued by the General Authority for Health Accreditation and Control include 40 standards divided into 22 for infection control, and 18 for the management and circulation of medicines within health facilities, the most important of which is the standard of the antibiotic supervision program, which aims to Promoting the safe and effective use of antibiotics, pointing to the need for health service providers to adhere to the standards issued by the Authority, which ensure the safety and security of patients, and help to govern the use of antibiotics and change behaviors in prescribing practices, and save unnecessary health care costs, in addition to strengthening control over Use of antibiotics in approved health facilities according to GAHAR standards
The head of the Health Accreditation and Control Authority added that the world is facing a serious health crisis that is considered one of the top ten global threats to public health, according to the World Health Organization report, due to the high rate of antibiotic resistance and its reaching dangerous levels that pose an explicit threat to human health, and the plant resources it feeds on. And animal, pointing out that scientific studies have concluded that about a third of the antimicrobials that are prescribed to patients were not necessary to prescribe them in the first place, and this irrational use led to the failure of antimicrobial resistance and the monitoring of 5 million deaths annually around the world as a result of the ineffectiveness of antimicrobial treatment. It is expected that the number will increase, as we did not address this health disaster that threatens human lives, and this is reflected in the importance of the One Health Strategy adopted by the Ministry of Health and developed a plan to activate it.
Sustainability of universal health coverage
The head of the Health Accreditation and Control Authority pointed out that the economies of countries and their ability to sustain the application of universal health coverage for all were affected, due to the irrational use of antibiotics, which leads to higher medical costs, due to the increase in hospitalization and frequent visits to doctors, which may have an impact on different countries of the world in the long run.
Taha explained that it is necessary for all institutions and authorities concerned with the health sector to unite to activate the national plan to combat antimicrobial resistance to antibiotics and to address the risk of indiscriminate prescribing antibiotics, and the dangerous side effects it causes, and to use them safely and effectively, which helps to easily resist infection, and to ensure that it does not occur. The spread of new strains of microbes, and the protection of patients from the risk of wrong and irrational use of antibiotics, which results in a lot of health damage.
The conference was attended by Dr. Naima Al-Qaseer, representative of the World Health Organization in Egypt, Dr. Amr Qandil, Assistant Minister of Health and Population for Preventive Affairs, Dr. Anwar Mahmoud, Assistant Minister of Health for National Projects, Dr. Ayman Al-Khatib, Vice President of the Egyptian Medicines Authority, and Dr. Jane Cassia, Director General. The African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.