Topic: Rise of Antibiotic Resistant Pathogens
Country: Philippines
Delegate Name: Rachel Martin
School: Northville High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Philippines position papers GLIMUN 2010 committees
Antibiotic resistant pathogens are quickly becoming a major issue in all parts of the world. Within the Philippines, there have been multiple cases of drug-resistant bacteria. Tuberculosis and other bacterial infections are major health concerns in the Philippines, and if there were strains of such diseases that showed resistance to conventional treatments, it could pose a serious threat to the health of the Philippine population and the international community. Most important in dealing with the issue is reducing the inappropriate use of antimicrobial agents in treating humans and animals. In the past, the Philippines has had problems with people purchasing antibiotics without a prescription. This sort of self-treatment is a serious threat to both the health of the individual self-medicating and the general public, because taking a course of antibiotics improperly can encourage the evolution of bacteria resistant to that medication. Another practice that promotes the development of antibiotic resistant bacteria is the inappropriate prescription of antibiotics by doctors. Many diseases are caused by viruses, which will not be affected by antibiotics, yet patients request antibiotics anyway. When healthcare providers give in to demands from their patients in these situations, development of antibiotic resistant bacteria accelerates without providing any benefit to the patient. Overuse and unnecessary prescription of antimicrobial agents is one of the major contributors to the general problem. On a related note, if people fail to take courses of medication exactly as prescribed, or stop taking their doses early, more bacteria can survive and reinfect than would have if medication was properly used. These surviving bacteria can obtain genetic information from the few that would have survived anyway and spread the resistant traits more quickly to other areas than those few could have on their own. Household cleaning products commonly include antimicrobial compounds, but the inclusion of these ingredients is not particularly beneficial. Cleaners with antimicrobial agents have never been proven to clean better than products without them. This has been shown through multiple studies. The other area of concern is the use of antibiotics in farming and treating livestock. Animals are injected with and fed antibiotics on a regular basis in almost all countries with agricultural businesses. This strategy of keeping animals healthy can actually be counterproductive, even if the short-term results seem positive. When animals are constantly ingesting antibiotics, the bacteria around and within them have the perfect environment for developing drug resistance. The situation where a multitude of animals are all in close proximity encourages the spread of pathogens from one to the other quickly, and a single strain of resistant bacteria can easily infect an entire population and jump to another. The same principle applies when hospitals suffer epidemics of drug resistant infections. Also, antibiotics used in agriculture can end up in local water supplies, posing the same issues as incorrect use in the beginning while being much harder to control.
There are several things that can be done to help slow the evolution of antibiotic resistant bacteria and to treat infections when they occur. Educating the public about proper use of antibiotics and regulating their sale more closely is important to reduce their misuse and incorrect prescription. Reducing the use of antibiotics to treat livestock is a major goal that should be encouraged worldwide. In the Philippines, there was a 37% drop in the volume of antibiotics used in animal feed from 2008 to 2009. We hope to continue this trend and encourage any other nations to follow the example set by Philippine farmers. As for treatment options when antibiotic resistant bacteria do surface, new and continued research should be done into the development of new antimicrobial agents. This will probably be a continual process throughout the foreseeable future, thanks to the constant evolution of bacteria regardless of human actions. All the nations of the world should work together on this issue, as it is one of the most pressing problems facing WHO today. Political barriers should not affect concern for the well-being of all humanity. With today's global travel system, any health problem in one area will undoubtedly affect the rest of the world as well. The Philippines believes that establishing guidelines for the use of antimicrobial agents in farming and recommendations for their prescription is the most effective way to curb the evolution of drug resistant bacteria. Hopefully, this committee can carry out these goals and help improve the future health of people worldwide.
