Hyderabad based pharmaceutical majors blamed for increasing drug resistance
With possible far-reaching consequences for
the pharmaceutical industry in India, a report from a European agency
campaigning for the environment has blamed manufactures in Hyderabad for
growing antibiotic resistance in the world.
Titled ‘Superbugs in the Supply Chain’, the report by
London-based Changing Markets Foundation aims to show how effluents from pharma
majors, including Aurobindo, Hetero and Mylan based in Hyderabad, besides
drug-producing units from other parts of the country, are polluting the
environment with drugs that in turn are driving drug resistance at a global
scale. The report claims findings of antibiotic-resistant bacteria in effluent
samples tested at 14 sites in and around Hyderabad in addition to sample
testing in New Delhi, Chennai and Vishakhapatnam.
According to the report, sample testing
outside one of Aurobindo’s production units in Polepally, about 80 km from
Hyderabad, showed 70 percent of E.coli bacterial colonies in the samples were
resistant to cephalosporin (Cefepime, Cefpodoxime, Ceftazidime, Ceftotaxime)
fluroquinolones (Ciprofloxacin) and also carbapenem (Ertapenem), which is often
used as last resort antibiotics to control infections.
The report also points to high levels of
resistant bacteria in Hussainsagar located in the heart of Hyderabad, in a
sewage treatment plant located in Amberpet where incidentally vaccine-derived
polio virus was found twice this year, and in the Musi river at Edulabad, which
is to the east of the city.
Researchers also tested samples collected
from five locations in Chennai, two in Vishakhapatnam and two in New Delhi.
Out of these nine locations, testing at three
locations - in the vicinity of Hetero Drugs in Rajiyapeta in Chennai, Orchid
Chemicals Alathur in Vishakhapatnam and Asiatic Drugs and Pharmaceuticals,
Bhiwadi in New Delhi, showed presence of resistant E.coli bacteria.
The report, Changing Markets, described the
antibiotic supply chain, beginning with raw materials in China, and claimed
resistance was being fuelled due to some production practices. The materials
are then used in India for producing drugs for export to western markets. The report
alleged that major pharma companies in the US had ties with companies in India
and China which had allegedly flouted environmental norms.
Antibiotic resistance is a major health
concern for hospitals in India. In Hyderabad, the case of 13 people losing
vision after cataract surgeries earlier this year at the government-run
Sarojini Devi Eye Hospital was attributed to infection due to drug-resistant
Klebsiella bacteria.
While releasing the Changing Markets report,
the European Public Health Alliance, an NGO alliance that receives funding from
European Union, in its press note last Tuesday claimed that 10 millions lives
could be lost by 2050 to drug-resistant infections with an accompanying
economic losses totalling $ 100 trillion.
“The findings of our report and the initial
reactions from British and German health authorities demonstrate that polluting
practices of pharmaceutical factories in India are no longer going to be
tolerated,” said Nusa Urbancic, Campaigns Director at Changing Markets. “In the
light of the AMR threat, actions to address pollution from antibiotics
manufacturing need to be taken immediately. These include blacklisting of
polluting companies, more transparency on supply chains and greater technology
transfers for cleaner production practices and ultimately inclusion of
environmental criteria in Good Manufacturing Practices,” Ms. Urbancic added.
When comments on the Changing Markets report
were elicited, pharma company representatives called it an effort of ‘vested
interests in Europe’ and that they would take legal recourse to counter it.
“If our
processes were leading to drug resistance, our employees would be first affected
by it. The contents of the report are not scientifically proven,” said
Jayant Tagore, Managing Director of Synthokem Labs, who also presides over Bulk
Drug Manufacturers Association.
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