News and Opinions  –  2014

ReAct Latin America releases manual on the appropriate use of antibiotics

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2016-10-26

16 April 2014

Today, April 16th, the manual “Uso Apropriado de Antibióticos y Resistencia Bacteriana” is being launched at a ReAct Latin America art and culture event at the Faculty of Medical Sciences, University of Cuenca. Bacteria resisting antibiotics is one of the most challenging problems within modern medicine. The book hightlights the invisible world of bacteria and their integrated functions with humans and nature and emphasizes the need for a new scientific paradigm to address the issue from an ecosystems perspective.

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“Uso Apropiado de Antibióticos y Resistencia Bacteriana” that has been in preparation since 2012 by experts from three Latin American countries, seeks to give health workers the most updated scientific information on infectious diseases, use of antibiotics and antimicrobial resistance from a social and ecological perspective.

“It is important to provide updated information to improve the management of antibiotics, but contextualized in our social and cultur realities”, says Arturo Quizhpe, coordinator of ReAct Latin America.

At the same time, “we need to profoundly understand the role of microbes in human and ecosystems health, and the effect of antibiotics. This way, health workers and populations may gain an ecological approach while dealing with the problem.”

The manual has been put together by experts belonging to the University of the Orient from Venezuela, the Ministry of Health of Cuba, the University of Cuenca and  theNational University of Colombia, under the coordination of the ReAct Latin America group. The work is also part of a larger initiative to promote a Latin American network of academic institutions and social movements, which put together different perspectives and different proposals to tackle the issue of antibiotic resistance holistically.

According to Dr. Quizhpe “Bacterial resistance has ceased to be a mere threat and become a reality of unexpected dimensions. There is an urgent need to implement drastic changes in current patterns of use of antibiotics, as well as adopt innovative approaches and strategies to preserve them.”

Read the book in Spanish (PDF, 4MB).

Visit Educational materials for more materials on antibiotic resistance.