1. The One Health stewardship of colistin as an antibiotic of last resort for human health in South Africa
- Author
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Mahlodi Mohlala, Adelaide Molatuli, Marius Collins, Camilla Patterson, Kim Faure, Darshana Reddy, Gerry E. Swan, Jeanette Lotter, Margaret Molefe, Moritz Van Vuuren, Ruth Lancaster, Marc Mendelson, Adrian Brink, Vinny Naidoo, Lesiba Moshiga, Nontombi Marylucy Mbelle, Kefiloe Mompati, Natalie Schellack, Khotso Bokaba, Griffith Molewa, Portia Nkambule, Helen Rees, Alice Sigobondhla, Maryke Herbst, Beyers Hoek, Shyamli Munbodh, Joey Gouws, Shabir Banoo, Ernest Mokantla, Mike Modisane, Troy Pople, and Suraiya Suliman
- Subjects
0301 basic medicine ,Infection Control ,Economic growth ,Colistin ,030106 microbiology ,Stakeholder engagement ,Legislation ,Anti-Bacterial Agents ,South Africa ,03 medical and health sciences ,Infectious Diseases ,Antibiotic resistance ,One Health ,Action plan ,Political science ,Drug Resistance, Bacterial ,Practice Guidelines as Topic ,medicine ,Humans ,Infection control ,Stewardship ,Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections ,medicine.drug - Abstract
Summary Increasing reliance on antibiotics of last resort to treat the rising numbers of multidrug-resistant bacterial infections in people has focused attention on how shared-use antibiotics are managed and regulated across human and animal health. Discussions at international and national levels have intensified since the identification of new plasmid-mediated genes for colistin resistance in 2016, first in China and subsequently in many other countries, removing the last line of defense against multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacterial infections with carbapenem resistance. South Africa has reacted to this threat by doing a situational analysis and review of the existing legislation concerning colistin use in animals and people, to inform which course of action to take. The experiences shared in this Personal View outline the process, institution of governance with widespread stakeholder engagement, surveillance, and interventions that South Africa has taken towards optimising the shared use of colistin. The instigation of stewardship guided by the principles of the One Health concept for shared-use antibiotics at the country level is a crucial component of any action plan to combat antibiotic resistance, and is as relevant to other existing antibiotics and new chemical entities that will be forthcoming from an invigorated antibiotic pipeline as it is to colistin.
- Published
- 2018