First report in GSK-funded antibiotic sensitivity research project released

The first report of a nationally significant surveillance of microbial sensitivity to antibiotics, part of a four-year project initiated by the Sri Lanka College of Microbiologists (SLCM) in association with the Ministry of Health, has been released.

Funded by GlaxoSmit-hKline Pharmaceuticals (GSK), one of the country’s leading pharmaceutical and vaccines companies, the project envisages the creation of a national database on microbial resistance to antibiotics and the adoption of the internationally accepted Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute (CLSI) methodology in identification of organisms by all institutions in Sri Lanka conducting research on the issue.

Details of research conducted by members of the Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Project over a one-year period with 733 samples obtained from 488 adults (over 12 years of age), 109 children (1 – 12 years of age) and 136 infants at seven centres are included in the report.

Of these centres five were in the Western Province, one was in the Central Province and one in the Sabaragamuwa Province.

Only Gram negative bacteria were studied in this phase of the project in which data was analysed according to demographic and clinical data of the patients and sensitivity of selected pathogens. Research is expected to be extended to Gram positive bacteria during the second phase.

“As a company that has supported numerous health related initiatives in Sri Lanka, GSK takes pride in funding this project and thereby encouraging private-sector support for medical research in the country,” GSK Pharmaceuticals’ Managing Director in Sri Lanka Stuart Chapman said.

Microbial resistance to antibiotics has been identified as a serious problem worldwide, especially in developing countries, and places a heavy burden on healthcare systems.

According to experts, the lack of surveillance has exacerbated the matter leading to underestimation of the magnitude of the problem. Statistics indicate that antibiotics constitute 7.6 per cent of the Sri Lankan government’s expenditure on healthcare.

The second phase of the project is expected to commence in the near future. In the third phase, focus will be on the amalgamation and expansion of surveillance to the existing laboratory system of the country. The total financial commitment by GSK for all phases of the project exceeds Rs. 10 million.

GSK and its predecessors have been doing business in Sri Lanka since the late 1930s. A world leading pharmaceuticals and vaccines company, GSK is the only pharmaceuticals company to tackle the three “priority” diseases identified by the World Health Organization (WHO): HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.