The event was organised as part of D.T.E.A Senior Secondary School’s Festember Festival on Children's day. Students were not aware of the subject of AMR and how it can affect them and their friends & family. We not just made them aware of the issue of AMR but also shared the hidden or less discussed cause of AMR- Intensive Farming.
How is our Planet feeling after the COVID Pandemic?
After the COVID pandemic, we know that our planet is fragile, and new diseases are always coming up. One of the diseases, or a potential pandemic, is looming around the planet, and it is called superbug or antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
Scientists calculated that antimicrobial resistance caused the death of approximately 1.27 million in 2019. In India, nearly 60,000 newborn babies die every year because of AMR.
How and when does AMR occur?
Antimicrobial resistance occurs when generic antibiotic doesn't respond to infections. But antibiotics are made to work. Not entirely, though; if we take antibiotics regularly, even in small amounts, our gut microbiota could become resistant to antibiotics.
Or we unknowingly consume antibiotics by eating foods that could have antibiotics, like chicken, eggs or meat, which will give rise to superbugs.
Message to Action with School Kids
To move this message and information further, we organised an awareness event with one of the schools whose teacher was trained during a teacher training session with DSPRUD.
Building Delhi teachers' anti-microbial resistance knowledge
We conducted two sessions on “Anti-microbial resistance (AMR) and its linkages with Intensive Farming” with the Delhi Society for Promotion of rational use of...
The event was organised as part of DTEA Senior Secondary School's Festember Festival on Children's day. Students were unaware of the subject of AMR and how it can affect them and their friends & family. We made them aware of AMR's issue and shared the hidden or less discussed cause of AMR- Intensive Farming.
Sharing information about antibiotics misuse or overuse
We shared information about antibiotics misuse/overuse in intensive farms and how we can end the superbug in our food system.
Students were excited about their festember carnival, and we added more exciting engagement through our activities. For example, a "Superbug" character pushed down our medicines, which attracted the students and their parents. Students were enthusiastic and asked questions like "what's the superbug" and how it's related to animal farming.
Mrs Jaya Prabha said, "Students loved the #EndTheSuperbugs event. They learned about how AMR enters the food system and what we can do to stop it."
The contribution of our team
We used a leaflet explaining the journey of antibiotics from intensive farms to humans. Animal farming is becoming a lucrative source of income, and gaining profits animal farming industry is neglecting health and hygiene standards.
The use of antibiotics for prophylactic and metaphylactics (meaning that the presence of clinical illness in one animal triggers drug treatment of the whole herd or flock) leads to antibiotic or antimicrobial resistance.
World Animal Protection team with Mrs Ranjam Gupta, Principal of DTEA Senior Secondary School
Mrs. Jaya Prabha said, "Students loved the #EndTheSuperbugs event. They learned about how AMR enters the food system and what we can do to stop it."
One of the students asked, “But I am a vegetarian, so it doesn’t affect me, right? Not entirely, though hens or chickens can’t be able to digest antibiotics fully. So 80% of the antibiotics are excreted in the ground or go to waterways. Ultimately it ends up in soil or waterways; it mix-up with the general microbial life of soil and water and causes resistance in normal microbes.
We also made people aware of the cruelty animals face in intensive farming and how misuse/overuse of antibiotics plays a significant role in animal farming. Students and their parents mentioned that they are unaware of such cruel conditions, especially the use of antibiotics to grow chickens fast.
The possible solutions :
So what can I do?
Eat better, and ask where your food is coming from. Is it laden with antibiotics?
Please help us to spread awareness about AMR and its linkages with the intensive farming of animals
Raise your voice for the #EndTheSuperbugs.
We have received 100+ petitions through this campaign event and made people aware of #Superbugs
Do you want to support this campaign? Sign the Petition!
Reach out to us if you want to make people aware of the issue in your surroundings!
Vikash Kumar works as a Research Intern for Animals in Farming at World Animal Protection India. Through his Dissertation “Antidiabetic Bioactive Peptides : Insilico approaches to study Antidiabetic Bioactive Peptides he made an attempt to develop an anti-diabetic peptide database by using machine learning techniques(SVM). Being an environmental enthusiast, he supported the ongoing global campaign Save Soil