But over the years, this zero-investment natural farming, with minimal environmental impact, has begun to falter. And along with the healthy fishes, the number of traditional fishermen like Gopi is also dwindling. Gopi is losing faith in the traditional method. He says, “Fungal and bacterial infection keeps killing the fishes.”
https://thewire.in/environment/something-fishy-medicine-treats-bacteria-tricks-and-cycle-repeats
Though modern medicines offer solutions to treat infections, lately that solution is backfiring. Drugs like antimicrobials (antibiotics, antivirals, antifungals) which treat diseases by attacking microbes (bacteria, virus and fungus), are not able to kill the pathogens.
Microbes are ubiquitous, but not all of them lead to diseases, instead they make life possible as we know it. But when microbes are constantly exposed to antimicrobials, they can self-mutate in response to the stressful environment, and develop resistance to the antimicrobials – a process called antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Overuse, misuse and the improper disposal of drugs like antibiotics in hospitals, livestock farms, fisheries and households, has allowed AMR pathogens to proliferate to far off spaces. And with the changing climate, more farm diseases are hitting production, resulting in the need to use more antibiotics.
In 2017, Kerala recognised the threat of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in farming (with changing climate more farm diseases hit production and need more antibiotics), and set up the Kerala Antimicrobial Resistance Strategic Action Plan (KARSAP). Kerala, where Gopi practices fishing, is one of the few states in India, (apart from Delhi and Madhya Pradesh) which has an action plan to fight against AMR.
AMR has a domino effect, impacting every form of life. Research shows that more and more microbes around the world are becoming resistant to drugs. In 2019, directly and indirectly, 4.95 million people in 204 countries died because drugs could not treat microbial infections.
28/06/2024