Specialists say that the people of Bangladesh are at risk of becoming antibiotics-resistant. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has already identified the loss of efficacy of anti-microbial as a ‘silent-killer’.
They fear that if steps are not taken now there won’t be any antibiotics in the future.
Specialists stress that the sale of antibiotics without prescriptions should stop. Pharmacies must have trained medicine sellers. In addition, patients who are prescribed antibiotics have to finish their course.
Antibiotic resistance happens when germs in the body develop immunity against antibiotics.
Medicine specialist Dr ABM Abdullah said: “Due to misuse, antibiotics are losing their efficacy. As a result, the impact of antibiotics has fallen.”
Recent research by the Pharmacology department of BSMMU on 82 antibiotics shows that these are not being used properly.
The Medicine administration department has said that by 2050, 10 million people will die due to antibiotic resistance.
Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) carried out a survey and reported that 17 antibiotics have lost their efficacy.
Chairman of Pharmacology at BSMMU, Dr Sayedur Rahman said: “Due to the discovery of anti-microbial, the treatment of Cancer and other ailments had become easy but due to the rise of resistant bacteria, the treatment of many diseases has become impossible.”
The entire world is at the risk of developing resistance to antibiotics and to reduce the risk, the only way is to bring down its unnecessary usage, he adds.
Senior scientific officer of IEDCR, Dr AS Alamgir said: “First, the sale of antibiotics without prescription has to stop. Pharmacies must have trained sellers and general people should be dissuaded from buying over the counter antibiotics.”
Professor Sania Tahmina commented: “The country does not have a policy to sell antibiotics. A national work plan on antibiotics was formulated in 2017 and work is underway.”
Often medicine sellers prescribe antibiotics to patients with high fever but they cannot give the right dose, says Dr Farhad Manjur of the Shishu Hospital and Institute of Child Health, adding: “Though the patient recovers for the time, his/her body develops resistance.”
In many cases, medicines have 300mg of raw materials instead of 500, which helps such resistance, he observed.