Kochi: CIFT to fight antimicrobial resistance

Kochi: In the wake of threat of antimicrobial resistance looming large and India drawing unwanted attention as the single largest consumer of antibiotics in the world, the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT) has decided to be part of a project to fight against antimicrobial resistance. CIFT will be part of Indo-UK collaborative project named - Diagnostics for One health and user Driven Solutions for Anti-Microbial Resistance (DOSA) and is tasked with research on limiting antimicrobial resistance in healthcare, livestock and aquatic environmental settings.

The research organisation is collaborating in the project along with IIT Delhi, National Dairy Research Institute, Haryana, Assam University, Silchar Medical College, Assam and Centre for Cellular Molecular Platforms, Bangalore. The UK research partners constitute University of Edinburgh, University of Bradford, University of Southampton and University of Arts, London.

With the financial aid of Rs. 50 million provided by the Department of Biotechnology and £3 million from the UK Research under the Newton-Bhabha Fund, the DOSA project plans to undertake user mapping studies on pattern of antibiotic consumption in healthcare, livestock and aquaculture community settings. 

Dr. GK Sivaraman, Principal Scientist from the Microbiology, fermentation and Biotechnology Division is heading the project at CIFT. 

While outlining the project, CIFT director Dr. Ravishankar C.N. stressed the need for a multi-disciplinary, multi-sectoral approach to combat the antibiotic resistance. With the nine major academic and research institutions coming together onboard to address the growing menace, there is hope on making some breakthrough, he said.