‘I used to take medicine from the lane side pharmacy whenever I had a cough or fever. Besides, when some member of my family became sick, I used to go to that pharmacy to buy medicine. Even I also give medicine to my one and a half-year-old child without consulting any doctor. But now I know that through this, I have called my own death. Apart from doctor's consultation, taking antibiotics at an undefined level is equal to death - it was not known to me like many other people. So please, inform everyone of this fact. Otherwise, in the future, maybe there will be the time when the antibiotics will lose its effectiveness because of the overuse and cause death.’
Recently a private university teacher Mr Raihan Mahmud said these at a program. Not only he, public health experts also say 'self-medication' with antibiotics may cause troubles. The lack of awareness of the application of antibiotics will ruin its functioning and antibiotics will not function properly in our body.
Experts say that it is important to use antibiotics in various diseases. However, antibiotics should be used according to the dosages and age limit. In order to take antibiotics, it is important to follow these dosages and at the same time, it is important to take the full dosages of the antibiotics. If these are not followed properly, antibiotics lose their effectiveness. In this way, antibiotic resistance develops in the human body.
Public health experts say that antibiotic resistance is developing in the human body because of self-medication. Though there is no research on how many people died in this country because of this, however, according to a report in the US, 7 lakh people worldwide and 23 thousand people in Bangladesh die every year due to antibiotic resistance.
According to a research of the Faculty of the Pharmaceutical Technology of the University of Dhaka, use of improper antibiotics increases the rates of illness of human body and also causes different types of physical complications. This also increases death rates. On the other hand, antibiotics are given more to the children from one to four years of age.
Speaking about the dangers of inaccurate uses of antibiotics, Professor Sithish Chandra of Faculty of the Pharmaceutical Technology of DU said to the Bangla Tribune, ‘We can easily buy drugs from a nearby drug store, which cannot be seen anywhere else in the developed countries. And antibiotics are called social drugs. Because people take antibiotics in such an amount that at a stage, no antibiotic works in the body. So it's time to become aware of antibiotics. So people need to be made aware of it so that they don’t take any medicine themselves without consulting doctors. This is also the responsibility of the doctor along with the media.’
He said that antibiotics are becoming ineffective in 11 countries of the world including Bangladesh.
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Bangabandhu Medical University Mr ABM Abdullah told the Bangla Tribune, ‘Self-medication or taking medicine on his own has increased to a frightful amount. If anything happens we go to the pharmacy and buy the drug without consulting any doctor. But there is a rule that it is prohibited to sell any drug without any prescription.’ He said that while the patients buy drugs without having any understanding, the sellers sell drugs for profit only.
About the dangers of self-medication by taking antibiotics, Principal of Dhaka Medical College and Head of the Department of Medicine Faculty of Dhaka Medical College Hospital Dr Khan Abul Kalam Azad told the Bangla Tribune, ‘Pregnant women and mothers who breastfeed their child they must not take medicines themselves. On the other hand, children must not be given antibiotics for a fever or cold-cough without consulting doctors. This reduces the chances of creating disease resistance power in their body. At the same time, it is also not appropriate to change antibiotics frequently. It creates a variety of complications and the disease resistance power decreases. As a result, antibiotic resistance is developed in the body and antibiotics do not work anymore.’
