Antibiotic resistance can be deadly

Life-saving antibiotics are greatly misused in the country. To stop this phenomenon,  there must be a serious effort from the government as well as the relevant people including hospital and clinics authorities, doctors and nurses. People in general also need to be conscious about the negative aspect of antibiotics.

Currently World Health Organisation (WHO) is observing World Antibiotic Awareness Week (12-18) all over the world with a grim note: “Change Can’t Wait. Our Time with Antibiotic Is Running Out.” Every year in the month of November, this week is observed and it is expected that through concerted effort of all, awareness of antibiotic resistance would be created sufficiently in Bangladesh.        

The forms of an antibiotic misuse in this country are many. Bangladesh is a poor country and people in general here are not aware of various health issues, let alone the ramifications of antibiotics. Because of their lack of they are always vulnerable to diseases and misuse of drugs that can lead to fatal consequences.  

Misuse of a certain kind of antibiotic occurs when a patient is given the drug when quite a different kind of the drug is required. Misuse mostly arises when patients on their own take an antibiotic or do so following the advice of a drug seller. But in Bangladesh it would not be difficult to find instances when doctors also wrongly prescribed antibiotics.

There is a common rule for taking an antibiotic: if a patient starts taking an antibiotic, he or she must take the full course of the drug, otherwise the relevant bacteria develops resistance against it. A large section of population in Bangladesh does not know about this. Antibiotic is also misused when the drug is not taken in its proper doses.

Antibiotics are life-saving drugs and worldwide they are saving millions of lives, but experts are ringing alarm that increasing antibiotic resistance can change this trend. According to a statistics, about one million people in the world die every year from bacterial infections that cannot be treated with common antibiotics. This is indeed a grave situation.

For stopping antibiotic resistance in Bangladesh, it is necessary first to stop over-prescription of antibiotic drugs. A patient must not bypass a doctor and directly purchase antibiotics from pharmacies where it is widely available without prescription, a situation that needs to change urgently.

 

Antibiotic resistance can be deadly

Life-saving antibiotics are greatly misused in the country. To stop this phenomenon, there must be a serious effort from the government as well as the relevant people including hospital and clinics authorities, doctors and nurses. People in general also need to be conscious about the negative aspect of antibiotics. Currently World Health Organisation (WHO) is observing World Antibiotic Awareness Week (12-18) all over the world with a grim note: Change Cant Wait. Our Time with Antibiotic Is Running Out. Every year in the month of November, this week is observed and it is expected that through concerted effort of all, awareness of antibiotic resistance would be created sufficiently in Bangladesh. The forms of an antibiotic misuse in this country are many. Bangladesh is a poor country and people in general here are not aware of various health issues, let alone the ramifications of antibiotics. Because of their lack of they are always vulnerable to diseases and misuse of drugs that can lead to fatal consequences. Misuse of a certain kind of antibiotic occurs when a patient is given the drug when quite a different kind of the drug is required. Misuse mostly arises when patients on their own take an antibiotic or do so following the advice of a drug seller. But in Bangladesh it would not be difficult to find instances when doctors also wrongly prescribed antibiotics. There is a common rule for taking an antibiotic: if a patient starts taking an antibiotic, he or she must take the full course of the drug, otherwise the relevant bacteria develops resistance against it. A large section of population in Bangladesh does not know about this. Antibiotic is also misused when the drug is not taken in its proper doses. Antibiotics are life-saving drugs and worldwide they are saving millions of lives, but experts are ringing alarm that increasing antibiotic resistance can change this trend. According to a statistics, about one million people in the world die every year from bacterial infections that cannot be treated with common antibiotics. This is indeed a grave situation. For stopping antibiotic resistance in Bangladesh, it is necessary first to stop over-prescription of antibiotic drugs. A patient must not bypass a doctor and directly purchase antibiotics from pharmacies where it is widely available without prescription, a situation that needs to change urgently.