Going viral

Antibiotics and antimicrobial resistance are the biggest threat to Indias public health,apart from a weak and inadequate health system. The indiscriminate use of antibiotics and the long-term damage it has been causing have been put on the wall. The problem isnt just the fact of Indias antibiotic usage,but a larger lack of awareness and attendant stubbornness that has allowed antibiotics to be purchased over the counter and without prescription. Its the same health culture that makes physicians indiscriminately prescribe antibiotics even for common colds. The consequences of this are visible all around. Now,a WHO study has claimed 53 per cent Indians take antibiotics without a doctors prescription.

When Lancet had traced the NDM-1 superbug to Indias profligate use of antibiotics,temperatures were raised in both government and the medical community here. Better sense,fortunately,had prevailed a little later and the much-maligned Lancet study had led to a group of public health experts drawing up guidelines for hygiene standards and the appropriate use of antibiotics,underscoring the distinction between grave and intense illnesses which demand strong antibiotics and other cases,such as outpatients and emergencies,which call for milder ones. Additionally,the experts had recommended an infection-surveillance system and strictures on cleanliness. Monitoring medical care facilities are necessary to prevent infection and mitigate calls for the antibiotic cure. However,its not enough.

WHO warns that we could be reverting to the dreadful pre-antibiotic era,unless sustained action on antibiotic use is taken right now. The antibiotic problem is one of self-nullification the more we use them,the less useful they are. And the threat of antimicrobial resistance going viral is real. All stakeholders health policy framers,physicians and the public must be speedily and comprehensively sensitised and steps taken to ensure compliance as far as possible.