An international scientific and practical conference dedicated to the World Antimicrobial Resistance Week was held today in Astana. The conference was attended by international experts, representatives of the National Center of Expertise and sentinel medical organizations.

Chairman of the Board of the National Center of Expertise Erlan Kiyasov opened the conference with a welcoming speech.

He began his opening speech with the relevance of issues related to antimicrobial resistance.

Microorganisms resistant to one antimicrobial drug often develop resistance to similar drugs, so new classes of antibiotics are needed to keep ahead of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

“However, it is important to understand that the problem of antimicrobial resistance cannot be solved only by the discovery of one or more new antibiotics. Antimicrobial resistance will develop over time to any antibiotic, but judicious use will slow down this process,” noted Erlan Kiyasov.

Currently, ensuring constant epidemiological monitoring of the content of residual amounts of antibiotics and antibiotic resistance of bacteria in food raw materials and food products, epidemiological forecasting of the development of resistance of antibacterial agents are the most important tasks of the sanitary and epidemiological service of Kazakhstan.

In this direction, the National Center of Expertise is conducting research to determine the residual level of antibiotics in food products and food raw materials, identifying pathogenic microorganisms in food products and food raw materials with further determination of sensitivity to antimicrobial drugs.

According to Gulzhan Maksutova, a specialist at the National Center of Expertise, 2020-2023. For residual amounts of antibiotics, 6,725 samples were examined for 14 types of antibiotics using ELISA (33%), HPLC (46%), and the classical method (21%). Traces of antimicrobial drugs were found in 7.2-11.1% (exceeding the permissible limit of 0.09%).  

Pathogenic and conditionally pathogenic microflora are most prominent in finished products (73-84%), then in raw products (15-19%) and least of all from environmental objects (7%). The resistance of the isolated isolates to antimicrobial drugs was 17-24% of cases, G. Maksutova emphasized in her speech.

NCE International Cooperation Specialist Zeinulla Sharipov also spoke at the conference, where he spoke about the role of the Codex Alimentarius in the use of antibiotics in food production. “When developing monitoring and surveillance programs for foodborne antimicrobial resistance, a One Health approach should be adopted where possible and applicable, and promote a food safety component where it covers the entire food chain from field to fork,” said He.

The role of the food sector in the development of AMR cannot be underestimated. The irrational use of antimicrobial drugs in livestock farming is one of the important drivers of the development of antimicrobial resistance. Small doses of antimicrobial drugs entering the human body through food are considered the most dangerous, since nutrition is a continuous process of life support.

This issue was raised in her speech by Zhanara Chaimuratovna, a doctor at the bacteriological laboratory of the NCE branch in Almaty. According to her, as part of the implementation of the state monitoring plan for the quality and safety of food products, large-scale checks are regularly carried out for the presence of prohibited substances and exceeding the maximum permissible levels of residues of veterinary drugs, animal growth promoters, medicines (including antibiotics) in products of animal origin and raw materials.

At the end of the conference, the conference participants wished each other productive work, strengthening intersectoral interaction and cooperation, and developing new guidelines in the fight against the development of antimicrobial resistance.

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