New platform for safer antibiotics production

To tackle the escalating problem of antimicrobial resistance, a new collaboration platform is launched in New Delhi, India. The platform, initiated by Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), will bring together actors from civil society, governments and the pharmaceutical industry. It could mean a breakthrough for the responsible manufacturing of antibiotics and reduce the risk of the industry itself contributing to the spread of antimicrobial resistance.

“Shawview Consulting and SIWI developed concrete action plans in partnership with state governments and industry that can take forward feasibility studies to support local company adoption of the AMR Industry Alliance’s Framework,” says Brendan Shaw, Principal, Shawview Consulting.

The platform will be launched in India, one of the world’s major antibiotic producers and one of the countries most impacted by emissions from manufacturing facilities. This, in combination with mis-/overuse of antibiotics, has led to extreme levels of AMR. In response to this, India in 2017 launched an ambitious National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance and could now become the first country in the world to regulate industrial effluents of antibiotics. The country’s Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) recently announced a draft notification on environmental standards for bulk drug and formulation (pharmaceutical) industry.