Overuse of antibiotics without proper medical supervision is threatening lives in Bangladesh. Antibiotics are sold without prescription almost everywhere, and people use them often for any common malady, even cold and viral fevers.
Such careless use of antibiotics, coupled with the common practice of dropping out of prescribed courses, is giving rise to antibiotic-resistant infections. Though there is no national-level statistics on the use of antibiotics in the country, researchers based on surveys address the situation as dire. Researchers fear that if such wrongful practice goes unabated, one day these antibiotics will not work anymore as the intake of inadequate amount of antibiotics affects vital internal organs like kidney and liver and make human beings vulnerable to various diseases. Thetefore, authorities concerned should imply a range of actions to stop the misuse of antibiotics and ban the sales of these drugs at pharmacies without prescription.
The threat of antibiotic
resistance is as great as that from climate change
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Reports show that 55.7 per cent people in the capital have become resistant to antibiotics. This is indeed an antibiotic resistance catastrophe as a result of their excessive use. In order to limit it, a regulatory system should be introduced. If we are unable to stop the practice, at one point all the antibiotics in the world will become useless, and bacteria and disease will become rampant. That is why it is very important that we tackle this issue as soon as possible. The fight against growing ineffectiveness of antibiotics, which is called anti-microbial resistance (AMR), requires a multi-sectoral approach.
Prescribing high power antibiotic at the beginning of any disease is a crime. According to WHO, due to antibiotic resistance in people, over 7.5 lakh people die every year and the number will rise to 10 lakh by 2050 as common infections and minor injuries are claiming lives, raising a concern in the post-antibiotic era. Emphasizing the need for ensuring the proper use of antibiotics, doctors need to evaluate the effectiveness of their treatment and antibiotics must be prescribed only if unavoidable.
The threat of antibiotic resistance is as great as that from climate change and should be given as much attention from politicians and the public. Efforts to combat the problem of common illnesses becoming untreatable by antibiotic medicines should be coordinated at a worldwide level in a similar way as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the body of scientists set up in 1988 to tackle global warming.