Monirul Haque Rony :
Antibiotics area type of biochemical drug that usually kills or inhibits the growth of pathogenic bacteria. Physicians often recommend the use of antibiotics, depending on the severity of the disease, so that it can quickly develop resistance against the germs. But if the antibiotic is not able to resist the germs, rather the reverse germs become resistant to the antibiotics, then the matter is more worrying than surprising. However, such data has recently come from two separate studies conducted jointly by the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) and the American Society for Microbiology (ASM), a US-based organization and North South University (NSU). A two-year joint study by IEDCR and ASM on the use and effectiveness of antibiotics in the country’s top 10 hospitals found that ceftriaxone, a most commonly used antibiotics, was unable to resist germs in 76 per cent of cases in government hospitals and 43 per cent in private hospitals. NSU’s study of 12 antibiotics found that the widely used amoxicillin did not work against the bacteria in 98 per cent of cases, and that cefuroxime and cotrimoxazole were 75 and 62 percent respectively. Thus, studies have shown that almost every antibiotic is more or less ineffective.
The fact that antibiotics are not effective against bacteria or germs is a matter of considerable concern. However, this problem is there not only in Bangladesh, but it is now a global problem. There is a growing trend around the world for antibiotics to be ineffective against germs. Experts believe that antibiotics need to be used regularly and over a certain period of time to kill germs. For failure to do so, the antibiotic becomes unable to resist the germs and the germs gradually acquire the ability to survive against the antibiotic. As the ineffectiveness of antibiotics against germs threatens the medical system, the whole world is constantly drifting towards an invisible epidemic. The World Health Organisation has already described the ineffectiveness of antibiotics as a ‘Public Health Emergency of International Concern’. That is to say, the excessive and uncontrolled use of antibiotics worldwide is weakening our medical system day by day and its ineffectiveness is causing extreme damage to public health around the world. Scientists fear that by 2050, about ten million people worldwide will die each year from drug-resistant infections, most of them in Asia and Africa. At the root of all this is the improper application of antibiotics to humans and livestock and the failure to take medicines properly.
The discovery of antibiotics was a breakthrough in medicine and undoubtedly a blessing. But today it is becoming a curse due to its unnecessary, irrational and arbitrary use. The use of excessive and unwanted is constantly increasing. According to health officials, in 80 percent of cases, the misuse of antibiotics is one way or another. However, to ensure its proper use, the World Health Organisation divides it into three categories- ‘access’, ‘watch’ and ‘reserve’. Initially, access was to be used, but in most cases physicians begin with a “watch”, which is completely inappropriate and undesirable. Studies show that the use of ‘watch’ class antibiotics in these hospitals is more than double that of ‘access’. This is alarming information!
Antibiotics are not just used in humans. Apart from humans, its use in livestock farming, poultry farming and even fish farming is significant. Seventy percent of the world’s antibiotics are used in these sectors. In the fisheries sector in particular, it is used excessively and on the basis of supposition. As there is no separate physician in this growing agricultural sector, antibiotics are used indiscriminately, which in combination with soil, water and food weakens our immune system.
Experts believe that there are many reasons behind the rise in such alarming misuse of antibiotics. One of the reasons is ignorance and lack of awareness and sufficient concept about the use of antibiotics. Even in the case of common ailments like cold, cough, fever, many people take antibiotics arbitrarily without the advice or prescription of a doctor, which is another major reason for its overuse. The notable other factors include- not taking full doses of antibiotics, poor infection prevention and control system, disposal of untreated waste in hospitals, pharmaceutical factories and laboratories, mixing of antibiotics with manure, livestock and poultry excrement in soil or water. Merchant mentality is another significant reason behind the unnecessary use of antibiotics, experts say. Because it is relativelyan expensive drug-the more sales, the more profit. That is why a syndicate of unscrupulous health officials, doctors, drug dealers and marketers including pharmaceutical companies, are always trying to use it improperly in the hope of making more profit.
Measures must be taken immediately to prevent the horrors of antibiotic ineffectiveness. Therefore, it is necessary to raise awareness about its rational use and the dangers of its improper and overusethrough meetings, seminars, symposiums, handbills, billboards, leaflets, social, electronic and print media. This message of awareness should also be spread among the pharmaceutical companies, doctors, buyers and sellers and all the health related officials. Imams, teachers and even social workers along with local people’s representatives can be involved in this campaign. Incompetent and armature charlatan, especially in village, use antibiotics unnecessarily even for minor ailments without any worries. The administration has to take effective steps to prevent the malpractice of these charlatans. Although there is a national drug policy in the country, no policy regarding the use of antibiotics has been made even today. Therefore, it is necessary to make a national antibiotic policy to control its sale and use. In addition to licensed pharmacies, thousands of unlicensed drug stores have sprung up across the country. Inexperienced, uneducated and half-educated salesmen of these drug stores sell antibiotics on demand without any prescription. Legal action has to be taken against all these unauthorized illegal drug stores. The Ministry of Health and the Directorate General of Drug Administration and concerned offices and officials should be more active in preventing the misuse and overuse of antibiotics. Because, if people are not made aware of the dangers of its unnecessary and overuse, the epidemics that will ensue could wreak havoc on our healthcare system.
(Monirul Haque Rony is a lecturer at the Department of Social Work of Savar Government College, Savar, Dhaka, [email protected])
