Antimicrobial Resistance Increased by Antibiotic Residue in Food: The Need to Strengthen the Legal Framework in India

Antimicrobials are antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals and anti-parasites, medicines used to prevent and treat infections in plants, animals, and humans. Antimicrobial resistance is when any viruses, fungi, bacteria and parasite no longer reacts to medications, making infections more difficult to manage and raising the risk of disease transmission, serious illness, and death. The World Health Organization has listed antimicrobial resistance as one of the top 10 threats to global health in 2019. Apart from causing being a threat to global health, it also affects the economies of the States as it disrupts the working cycle of patients and their caretakers while also increasing the burden on the healthcare systems. There are multiple reasons behind the spreading and emerging of the antimicrobial resistance and one of them is the extensive use of antimicrobials in agriculture, animal husbandry practices. The sale of anti-microbial drugs in India is regulated under the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules 1945, however animal feed laced with antibiotics are not medicines and do not fall under the purview of these rules and are not regulated by the Central Drugs Standard and Control Organization. The Food Safety and Standard (Contaminants, Toxins and Residues) Regulations, 2011 prescribes the maximum limits on contaminants present in the food sold in the market including antimicrobial drugs, while there are no regulatory mechanisms to check the residue limits in food sold. This paper deals with the problems existing with increased usage of antimicrobial drugs for veterinary purposes and the same translating to affecting public health of humans. The paper concludes with suggestions to address the issue ranging from classification of drugs for veterinary purposes and humans, periodical surveys, enhancing research institutes and creating public awareness.