AMR fear: India plans to ban 37 antibiotics used for animals

About 600,000 lives are lost in India a year due to resistant infections, the govt said

- Priyanka Sharma

The Union government plans to ban the sale, manufacture, import and distribution of 37 antimicrobial medicines used to boost animal growth and yield.

The plan is to check antibiotic resistance in humans, which is transferred through consuming milk, meat, eggs and dairy products.

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites no longer respond to antimicrobial medicines. As a result, antibiotics and other antimicrobial medicines become ineffective and infections become difficult or impossible to treat; thereby increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness, disability and even death.