Rapid Fire
Operation AMRITH
- 19 Jan 2024
- 1 min read
Kerala's Drug Control Department has initiated Operation AMRITH to curb antibiotic overuse.
- Under this initiative, pharmacies must keep accurate antibiotic sales records and must display a poster mentioning ‘antibiotics not sold without doctor’s prescription’.
- The public can also report non-compliance of this measure to the Drug Control Department.
- In 2018, Kerala became the inaugural Indian state to introduce the KARSAP state action plan on AMR, aligning with India’s National Action Plan. The Kerala government has implemented various similar initiatives:
- Antibiotic Literate Kerala Campaign
- Establishment of block-level AMR Committees in all 191 blocks
- Kerala Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network (KARS-NET)
- Inauguration of an AMR laboratory by Kerala State Pollution Control Board
- Programme on Removal of Unused Drugs (PROUD) for proper disposal of unused antibiotics
Read more: Antimicrobial Resistance
