Operation AMRITH

• Kerala recently initiated Operation AMRITH (Antimicrobial Resistance Intervention for Total Health).
• This programme enforces the original H1 rule, mandating a doctor’s prescription for acquiring any class of antibiotics.

BACKGROUND

• In 2011, the Indian government introduced the H1 rule to prohibit the over-the-counter (OTC) sales of antibiotics without a prescription, responding to the growing concern over antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
  • Major objective of Schedule H1 drug is to control the un-restricted use of antibiotics.
  • This specified list of drugs should be sold by chemists only after retaining a copy of the prescription by them.
  • The supply of a drug specified in Schedule H1 shall be recorded in a separate register.
  • The packs of these drugs should have a warning in a box with a red border on the label.

• In 2013, following the Chennai Declaration document and initiative by medical societies in India, the government modified the rule to limit the OTC restriction to second- and third-line antibiotics, allowing the sale of first-line antibiotics without a prescription.

RELATED

• MoHFW had launched Red Line awareness campaign on Antimicrobials Resistance, urging people not to use medicines marked with a red vertical line, including antibiotics, without a doctor’s prescription.