Authorities have expressed concern over a tendency by people not to complete dosages when under treatment, a development which experts say may trigger antimicrobial resistance.
The concern has been raised through a study conducted by Malawi Liverpool Welcome Trust on antimicrobial resistance.
The study was aimed at researching bacterial infections and what kind of treatment a patient needs to fight off the virus in their bodies.
Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change over time and no longer respond to medicines making infections harder to treat and increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness and death.
According to Dr Diana Kululanga, Junior researcher at Malawi Liverpool Welcome Trust, the tendency is leading to situations in which people’s bodies do not combat antimicrobial resistance.
In taking her turn, Hellen Mangochi, a researcher at MLW said antimicrobial resistance is a growing threat to new born babies.
She indicated that the research has also revealed that newborns are also at risk of getting infected by bacteria that are drug resistant because of poor hand hygiene practices by health care workers.
‘’This is because, there are a lot of babies who need care in the hands of a few nurses making their tasks rather hard to complete. As you can see, this has exposed the need to have hand sanitizers and more medical personnel’’ she said.
