Provost of the College of Health Sciences of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Prof. Christian Agyare is calling for a well-defined policy direction on antimicrobial stewardship agenda.

Speaking at his professorial inaugural lecture, Prof. Agyare expressed belief it is a crucial step towards curbing antimicrobial resistance in the country.

“The daunting task of curbing the worrying trend of antimicrobial resistance is one to which we strive to make contributions to.  We can do so through our research, our deeds, and effective public education.

“Plants and other natural products do offer some hope in reducing antimicrobial resistance as well as non-curable infectious diseases.

“They must therefore be embraced and further explored if we desire to win this battle. However, we must always be on the side of caution and also intensify public education to curb the unrestrained use of drugs (be it natural products or orthodox) in the management of infections since we do know the dangers associated with their chemotherapeutic use.

“Efforts must be made to stringently control access to antimicrobial agents that could be a saviour of mankind from the microbial apocalypse through the combined effort of regulators, prescribers, pharmacies and dispensary outlets. 

He again called on regulatory bodies to ensure safe handling and distribution of antimicrobial products.

“Furthermore, regulatory bodies must intensify surveillance to ensure that antimicrobial products on the market are of the required standard and are properly handled, prescribed and used by all relevant stakeholders including Food and Drugs Authority of Ghana (FDA-Ghana), Pharmacy Council, Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Importers, Distributors, Clinicians, Prescribers, Pharmacists, Technicians, Pharmacies, etc.,” he said.

Prof. Agyare’s lecture was on “Treating non-curable infectious diseases and wounds with natural knowledge and products: The relevance of Ethnopharmacological studies.”