The Centre for Molecular Biosciences and Biotechnology, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State, has urged the Federal Ministry of Health to regulate the use of antibiotics in the country.
The Director of CMBB, Prof. Ifeoma Ijeh, made the call on Monday during the opening ceremony of a four-day workshop organised by the centre, themed, ‘Molecular and Phenotypic Characterisation of Antibiotic Resistance Using Biofilm Markers.”
Ijeh, who noted that there was excessive use and misuse of antibiotics, warned that undue exposure could lead to the gradual development of resistance.
According to her, excessive use or misuse of antibiotics was behind the continued treatment of particular diseases that have refused to go.
She said “You will notice that these days most standard hospitals will send you for culture and sensitivity test to identify the antibiotics which these organisms can respond to before they start treatment.
“But the average person will just wake up, go to a shop and buy drugs off the counter, and when the person is sick and is being treated, the sickness will not go because he/she had abused such antibiotic and it had become resistant.’’
The CMBB director warned Nigerians against just walking into a drug store to buy medication without a doctor’s prescription, noting that the practice is not condoned in developed countries.
Ijeh, a nutritional and toxicological biochemist, explained that the workshop aimed to bring in new, easier and faster tools that can identify resistant trends and sensitive antibiotics.
She further said that the workshop would also expose participants to international experts in the field of antimicrobial resistance, who would serve as key resource persons.
The director noted that participants would at the end of the workshop, acquire the skills required to carry out DNA extraction from microbial sources, gel preparation, gene expression and antimicrobial resistance, among others.
She added that the workshop, which is carried out in collaboration with the Nottingham Trent University, UK, was sponsored by the African Research Excellence Fund of the Medical Research Council, also in the UK.
She revealed that participants were drawn from the staff of colleges that deal with biological science research in the university and sister institutions in the South East.
(NAN)
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