Chandigarh, October 14
There is an old Hindi adage: “Neem hakeem khatra-e-jaan”, which literally means that a person with little knowledge of medicine may prove to cause harm rather than curing the disease.
Ironically, while everyone would have heard the age-old adage, we Indians do not follow it and seem to have a penchant for self-medication and love for popping antibiotic pills.
If you don’t believe, have a look at these figures-a study conducted by the World health Organisation (WHO) reveals that 53 per cent Indians take antibiotics without a doctor’s prescription and up to 48 per cent tend to change their physician if not prescribed antibiotics for something as simple as common cold. No wonder, we are facing the deadly threat of the Superbug, an antibiotic resistant bacteria, that develops in the body due to abuse and misuse of antibiotics.
“Do not underestimate the threat of Superbug,” says Dr SK Jindal, head of pulmonary medicine, PGI, adding that many studies in India have confirmed that the multi-drug resistant Superbug is a reality and present here. “We depend on antibiotics and other antimicrobial medicines to treat conditions that would otherwise be fatal. Antimicrobial resistance is drug resistance that renders these medicines ineffective,” he said.
“Though antimicrobial resistance is not a new problem, it is fast becoming more dangerous,” he added.
Expressing concern at the indiscriminate and excessive use of antibiotics at a continuous medical education (CME), organised by the department of pulmonary medicine at the PGI, Dr Jindal and other doctors said the misuse was the most common cause of drug resistance.
Saying it is dangerous to take antibiotics without medical supervision, Dr Jindal stated, “The growth in sales of such medicines in India is 7 per cent, second highest in the world. The highest growth in sales of 8 per cent is in China.”
Doctors feel that the most worrisome aspect of infection is the emergence of drug resistant strain. Dr Jindal says frequent use of antibiotics develops highly resistant bacteria and these infections can be deadly.
“People should refrain from taking drugs on their own and all antibiotics should be taken under medical supervision,” he added.
There is an old Hindi adage: “Neem hakeem khatra-e-jaan”, which literally means that a person with little knowledge of medicine may prove to cause harm rather than curing the disease.
Ironically, while everyone would have heard the age-old adage, we Indians do not follow it and seem to have a penchant for self-medication and love for popping antibiotic pills. If you don’t believe, have a look at these figures-a study conducted by the World health Organisation (WHO) reveals that 53 per cent Indians take antibiotics without a doctor’s prescription and up to 48 per cent tend to change their physician if not prescribed antibiotics for something as simple as common cold. No wonder, we are facing the deadly threat of the Superbug, an antibiotic resistant bacteria, that develops in the body due to abuse and misuse of antibiotics.
“Do not underestimate the threat of Superbug,” says Dr SK Jindal, head of pulmonary medicine, PGI, adding that many studies in India have confirmed that the multi-drug resistant Superbug is a reality and present here. “We depend on antibiotics and other antimicrobial medicines to treat conditions that would otherwise be fatal. Antimicrobial resistance is drug resistance that renders these medicines ineffective,” he said.
“Though antimicrobial resistance is not a new problem, it is fast becoming more dangerous,” he added.
Expressing concern at the indiscriminate and excessive use of antibiotics at a continuous medical education (CME), organised by the department of pulmonary medicine at the PGI, Dr Jindal and other doctors said the misuse was the most common cause of drug resistance.
Saying it is dangerous to take antibiotics without medical supervision, Dr Jindal stated, “The growth in sales of such medicines in India is 7 per cent, second highest in the world. The highest growth in sales of 8 per cent is in China.”
Doctors feel that the most worrisome aspect of infection is the emergence of drug resistant strain. Dr Jindal says frequent use of antibiotics develops highly resistant bacteria and these infections can be deadly.
“People should refrain from taking drugs on their own and all antibiotics should be taken under medical supervision,” he added.
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