New Delhi, 29 Dec (UNI): Issuing strict warnings against the growing antibiotic abuse in our nation, medical experts on Monday said that people should not take antibiotics indiscriminately unless prescribed and supervised by a doctor, cautioning about the dangers of self-medication and overuse.
Speaking to media persons, AIIMS Director Dr M Srinivas, on Tuesday, underlined that the most common infections are viral, and taking antibiotics, which are antibacterials, is futile for treating such ailments. The health expert cautioned that the rampant popping of antibiotic pills without a doctor’s prescription and dosage guidance could cause resistance among the patients.
“People who have developed antibiotic resistance from the overuse of these medicines, if they end up in hospitals’ Intensive Care Units (ICU), we are not left with any alternative medicine to treat,” he added.
A similar concern over antibiotic abuse was echoed by the Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Dr Rajiv Bahl, who hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for drawing attention to this serious public health concern in his latest “Mann ki Baat” episode.
Advising rational use of antibiotics, he urged doctors to prescribe antibiotics only with clear signs of bacterial infection. For citizens, Bahl cautioned to take antibiotics only when prescribed by a registered doctor and never indulge in self-medication of these drugs.
Antibiotic resistance is a condition in which pathogenic, disease-causing bacteria no longer respond to a drug, making them difficult or harder to kill, arising due to the misuse and overuse of antibiotics in humans and animals, leading to prolonged hospital stays and deaths in severe illness.
The condition is known to claim millions of lives annually. In October this year, the World Health Organisation highlighted worrying trends across the globe. The UN agency noted that one in six laboratory-confirmed bacterial infections are resistant to antibiotic treatments, calling for the medicines to be used more responsibly.
In India alone, between 3 and 10.4 lakh people died in 2019 due to bacterial AMR, based on the research findings of the Global Research on Antimicrobial Resistance (GRAM) Project.
According to a report published by The Lancet in September last year, over 39 crore deaths worldwide are likely to be caused directly or indirectly by antimicrobial-resistant infections by 2050.
