The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued an order prohibiting the manufacture, sale and distribution of “colistin” and its formulations for food-producing animals, poultry, aqua farming and animal feed supplements.
It has advised manufacturers to display this information on containers.
Colistin is a last-resort antibiotic that saves lives in critical care units.
It is effective against most Gram-negative bacilli.
As it enters through food chain, an increasing number of patients exhibit resistance to the drug.