Guide on antimicrobial resistance launched by Gulf Health Council

Riyadh: The Gulf Health Council has launched a guideline to raise public awareness about antimicrobial resistance, explain how to properly handle antibiotics and how to limit their spread.

The guide provides detailed description of the concept of “One Health”, which aims at striking a balance between the health of human beings, animals, plants and their common environment that makes them closely all associated to each other.

The guide defines antimicrobials, the problem of antimicrobial resistance and when microbes, including bacteria, become resistant to antibiotics due to their extensive growth and multiplication, which diminishes the effectiveness of antibiotics in treating infection.

The guide encourages the optimal use of medicines. It indicates many common diseases and conditions that do not require treatment with antibiotics, like viral infections such as colds and influenza.