Policy on Use of Antibiotics to be Drafted by Task Force

A 13-member taskforce has been set up by the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry to draft a policy on the use of antibiotics in the country. The task force has been setup as a result of the spread of the superbug called New Delhi Metallo-beta lactamase-1 (NDM-1).It will be headed by the Director General of Health Services and is due to report within 60 days.

“Once the task force submits its report, we will finalize a policy that will have to be adopted by all doctors. There is a need to create awareness among medical practitioners on indiscriminate use of antibiotics,” said Union Health and Family Welfare Secretary K. Sujatha Rao.

She also denied reports that the researchers who worked on the superbug story for The Lancet Infectious Diseases journal were being harassed by the Drugs Controller General of India (DGCI).

“The ICMR said no permission was taken. We cannot allow this. There are ethical considerations also, which have to be taken into account,” she explained.




Source-Medindia