53% Indians take antibiotics without prescription: WHO

A Special Report

New Delhi:  Raising concerns over drug resistance, a new study has revealed that 53 per cent Indians take antibiotics without a doctor’s prescription. And up to 48 per cent want to change their physician if not prescribed antibiotics for something as simple as a common cold.

According to a preliminary study conducted by the World Health Organisation (WHO), 16 per cent physicians prescribe antibiotics to patients with non-specific fever.

“17 per cent physicians feel that all patients with cough would need antibiotics and 49 per cent of physicians treat purulent ear discharge with antibiotics,” it said.

The study was conducted with a sample size 150 members of community and 150 physicians in Delhi and some other parts of the country. The study said 25 per cent doctors prescribe antibiotics to children with fever.

With “antimicrobial resistance” being the theme of World Health Day, the international health agency called for intensifying global commitment towards safeguarding antibiotics for future generations.

“The time for sustained action is now, since we are slowly but surely moving towards a reversion to the dreadful pre-antibiotic era,” Samlee Plianbangchang, WHO’s Regional Director for South-East Asia, said.

Last year, international journal The Lancet reported that India spreading the antimicrobial resistance superbug to other countries.

Stating that the controversy over the NDM-1 (New Delhi Metallo-beta-lactamase-1) superbug had a silver lining, Dr Nata Menabde, WHO representative to India said: “It served to sensitise all stakeholders, including the policy makers and the public regarding the need for effective infection control in healthcare settings. It made everyone, including researchers, physicians and other healthcare workers realise this problem.”

ICMR questions latest superbug study, DJB says don’t panic

New Delhi: A day after the Lancet Infectious Diseases journal reported the presence of a deadly gene in drinking water samples from New Delhi, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) questioned the intention behind the study. The Delhi Jal Board, on its part, said there was “no need to panic”.

The New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase-1 (NDM-1) gene can turn many types of bacteria into deadly superbugs.

Dr V M Katoch, Director General of ICMR and Health department Secretary, told Newsline that researchers were unnecessarily trying to create panic in the country. “There are thousands of genes causing multi-bacterial resistance besides NDM-1, and they are found in all parts of the world. The need to focus only on NDM-1, and that too only in India, is questionable.”

The journal said that the NDM-1 gene was found in 51 seepage samples and two tap water samples of the 171 seepage samples and 50 tap water samples collected from the Capital between September 26 and October 10, 2010. The article, published on Thursday, has been co-authored by Professor Timothy Walsh and Dr Mark Toleman of the Cardiff Institute of Medicine — the same scientists who were behind the superbug ‘expose’ last year.

World Health Day – 7 April 2011

World Health Day – 7 April 2011

Antimicrobial resistance: no action today, no cure tomorrow

Antimicrobial resistance is not a new problem but one that is becoming more dangerous; urgent and consolidated efforts are needed to avoid regressing to the pre-antibiotic era.

For World Health Day 2011, WHO is introducing a six-point policy package to combat the spread of antimicrobial resistance.

Read Full details here…