Speaking at the forum, the Minister of Health, Dr. Mekdes Daba, said that Ethiopia is working on a strategy for the proper use of antibiotics and the prevention of AMR( anti Microbial Resistance).
In view of expanding the access to information by strengthening disease surveillance and control, a large database has been organized in the Ethiopian Public Health Institute to identify drug resistant diseases; It has been explained that research is being done on the distribution and proper use of drugs, as well as the vaccine chain and the changes that vaccines bring to drug-resistant germs; It is said that currently, the Ethiopian government is making extensive efforts to produce vaccine shields in the country by establishing an enterprise in the sector.
The minister said that the framework plan prepared by the World Health Organization regarding the reduction of antibiotics and the promotion of vaccination should be implemented to prevent germs from becoming resistant to medicine. She stated that if this problem cannot be solved together, it is a great threat to our world.
Although the problem is severe in low and middle income countries, it is also a problem for developed countries; Said the minister that because it is feasible to encourage the use of existing and new vaccines to prevent disease-causing germs from adapting to drugs, we should all work together.
Ethiopia, Korea, Sweden, England and El Salvador co-sponsored the forum held under the motto "The Role of Existing and New Vaccines in Drug Resistance in Low- and Middle-Income Countries" organized by the International Vaccine Institute. A panel discussion was also held on the forum in which Professor Afework Kasu, Executive Director of Armawer Hansen Research Institute of Ethiopia participated.