Minister: Superbug needs a committee

Sep 10, 2010 - Age Correspondent |

New Delhi

Minister of state for health Dinesh Trivedi has suggested a high-level inquiry into the overuse of antibiotics in order to have an indepth understanding of the matter in the wake of the superbug controversy.

In a letter to Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Mr Trivedi said that in order to gain an indepth understanding of the issue he would suggest the formation of a high-level committee headed by the Indian Council of Medical Research DG, Dr V.M. Katoch. After the reaction to the Lancet report, there is widespread concern among health experts on the issue of overuse of antibiotics. The report states that the new superbug is said to be resistant even to the most powerful antibiotics.
Sources said that Mr Trivedi wrote that the committee should try to undertake a six-month and one-year study on the usage of antibiotics, prescription trends among various doctors and their reaction effects on the population.

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