Operation AMRITH | 19 Jan 2024

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