Malaysia's pharmaceutical companies participate in preservation of antibiotics workshop

KUALA LUMPUR, June 26 (Bernama) -- Fifty leading pharmaceutical companies in Malaysia attended a Sustainability Through Excellence in Manufacturing (STEM) workshop on advanced, clean, sustainable manufacturing and quality techniques on preservation of antibiotics.

The training and education session was hosted recently in Malaysia by DSM Sinochem Pharmaceuticals (DSP) -- a global leader in sustainable production of antibiotics -- in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), New Delhi.

Business director AMEA at DSP, Tim Rutten said Malaysia has a rapidly growing domestic pharmaceutical industry, ably supported by government policies, private investment and public-private collaborations.

Antibiotics are the cornerstone of modern health care, curing bacterial infections and enabling advanced medical treatments such as surgery and cancer treatments.

Rutten added that to continue the move forward, the pharmaceutical industry must ensure that antibiotics are made, used and taken responsibly to prevent the further growth of antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

Factors that commonly contribute to AMR include misuse and overuse of antibiotics as well as rising of industrial pollution particularly pharmaceutical waste as discharge of the waste into the environment containing antimicrobial activity can contribute to the growth of AMR.

The Malaysian Health Ministry also has initiated a working committee that called for urgent collaborations amongst different sectors, as part of its One Health Approach to address the gaps and solutions of the AMR situation in the country.

Under the 'One Health' framework, the National Antimicrobial Resistance Committee (NARC) was formed in March 2017 and an event-based surveillance protocol will be established in 2018 to detect and report of newly emerging resistance that could constitute a public health emergency.

DSP, headquartered in Singapore is the global leader in sustainable antibiotics, next-generation statins and anti-fungals. The company develops, produces and sells intermediates and active pharmaceutical ingredients.

-- BERNAMA