‘Be vigilant, prevent antimicrobial resistance’

DODOMA: HEALTH Minister Ummy Mwalimu has appealed to the community to be vigilant and take action to prevent antimicrobial resistance.

She said this on Monday in Dodoma, when she met and held talks with KIDO, who is the Ambassador of the “Holela-Holela Itakukosti” campaign.

The ‘Holela-Holela Itakukosti” (Recklessness Will Cost You) campaign focuses on antimicrobial resistance and zoonotic diseases (diseases that can be passed from animals to humans).

It highlights the need for actions to prevent antimicrobial resistance and the spread of zoonotic diseases and works at the local level to develop community awareness and preventive action that is being coordinated by the Office of the Prime Minister in collaboration with Ministries of Health, Livestock and Ministry of Environment and is being funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) through Breakthrough ACTION project.

Minister Ummy stressed on the resistance of pathogens to drugs, UVIDA and priority zoonotic diseases (diseases transmitted from animals to humans) which the “Holela-Holela Itakukosti” campaign targets.

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“I would like to take this opportunity to appeal to the community that we can only do a few things to deal with UVIDA such as properly following advice of health professionals, following instructions from veterinary/agricultural experts and on top of that using correct drugs for livestock/farms and washing hands with clean water and soap and maintaining the cleanliness of our environment,” she pointed out.

Ms Ummy added, “The issue of UVIDA is a very serious challenge and its effects are diseases recurring and victims taking time to recover and hence, spread of pathogens resistant to drugs, disability and even death.

Apart from that, there are economic effects such as spending a lot of money on medical treatment and thus leads to reducing personal time of managing daily activities, family and loss of income’.

Ms Ummy said that the government is making a lot of efforts in dealing with UVIDA, which includes launching the “HolelaHolela Itakukosti” campaign which intends to increase awareness about UVIDA and bring positive changes in behaviour in dealing with UVIDA within the society.

Apart from that, there is a work plan for the fight against UVIDA (NAP AMR 2023-2028), and the National Committee for the fight against UVIDA (AMR MCC) that is under One Health project and other sectoral guidelines that help the fight against UVIDA. On his part, the USAID Mission Acting Director Alex Klaits said that the ‘Holela-Holela Itakukosti’ campaign builds on the 60- year partnership between the people of the United States and Tanzania.

As Tanzania’s largest bilateral donor, the U.S. has contributed more than 7.5 billion US dollar in assistance, not loans with repayment requirements, in the last 20 years to strengthen security, boost economic growth, expand democratic participation, and improve health, education and nutrition for ordinary Tanzanians.

“Together, let us move forward to protect the health and well-being of all Tanzanians,” said Klaits.