Regional workshop on containing antibiotic pollution from manufacturing: Southern India

The silent pandemic of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major global public health concern today. In addition to misuse of antibiotics in human-health and food production, drivers of AMR include discharges from antibiotic active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) and formulation manufacturers. Antibiotic manufacturing discharge can, therefore, be considered a ‘hot-spot’, reflecting monitoring and mitigation possibilities at the source. 

The global momentum is building up on containing antibiotic pollution from manufacturing. The Political Declaration, recently adopted at a high level meeting on AMR at the 2024 United Nations General Assembly, recognized that pharmaceutical production, including manufacturing operations and waste and effluent generation and management, can impact AMR evolution and spread in the environment. The Jeddah Commitments from the 4th Global High-Level Ministerial conference on AMR also note the role of inadequate industrial manufacturing operations and inappropriate wastewater management in development and spread of AMR in the environment. 

From the perspective of minimising exposure to Indian population, there has been a growing recognition among government stakeholders as well as the pharma industry on the need for better waste management. For e.g., the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) had developed antibiotic standards and has now come up with guidelines which are shared with state PCBs. Some states have also taken initiatives including upgrading common effluent treatment plants. While some big pharmaceutical companies have taken up certain initiatives but a lot needs to be done by many others. Small-and medium-scale industry also needs to be trained and supported to be able to effectively contain antibiotic pollution. 

Our report which was released in November 2023, has looked at the Indian antibiotic manufacturing landscape and existing pollution control policy, systems as well as industry practices. We have also discussed the findings over a national stakeholder consultation with industry and pollution control officials in New Delhi to see what can be the roadmap. 

On January 28, CSE and Telangana Pollution Control Board joined forces to organise a regional workshop on containing antibiotic pollution from manufacturing in view of AMR in Hyderabad, Telangana. The workshop was a third in the series of regional workshops that CSE has been organising in key antibiotic manufacturing hubs in India. This workshop focused on manufacturing hubs in the southern region such as Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

This crucial event brought together 60 participants from pollution control boards of the four states, scientific community, key large scale and small scale antibiotic manufacturers and CETPs.

The opening session was attended by the Member Secretary, Telangana PCB, Member Secretary, Tamil Nadu PCB (online) and Chairman, Andhra Pradesh PCB (online) who shared their introductory remarks.

The workshop provided an opportunity for creating stakeholder awareness, building capacity and understanding challenges and possibilities of stakeholder groups.

For more information, you can write to Gauri Arora of CSE’s Sustainable Food Systems programme at gauri.arora@cseindia.org.