Antibiotic resistance – where bacteria adapt and mutate to endure the antibiotics used to treat them – is believed to originate from the overuse and abuse of the drugs, worsening the development of so-called superbugs.
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Close to one third (32 per cent) of people surveyed believe they should stop taking antibiotics when they feel better, rather than completing the prescribed course of treatment.
But in Nigeria, only 38% of the respondents have heard of antibiotic resistance.
During a press briefing from the WHO headquarters in Geneva, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan warned that the problem is fast “reaching dangerously high levels” all over the world and could end modern medicine.
As per a survey, roughly two-thirds (64 pc) of a few 10,000 people lonesome opposite 12 countries pronounced they know that antibiotic insurgency is an emanate that could impact them and their families, though how it affects them and what they can do to residence it are not good understood.
Around 75 per cent of Indians who took part in a World Health Organization survey think, incorrectly, that colds and flu can be treated with antibiotics, the United Nations agency said as it sought to highlight the issue of widespread misunderstanding about antibiotic resistance. He added that change in global behaviour by societies and individuals would be necessary to ward off one of the biggest challenges for health in the 21st century.
Keiji Fukuda, World Health Organization special representative for antimicrobial resistance, stated the findings raise the pressing need for improving awareness of appropriate antibiotic use.
The multi-country survey included 14 questions on the use of antibiotics, knowledge of antibiotics and of antibiotic resistance; and a mix of online and face-to-face interviews were employed to elicit information.
“The more antibiotics are used, the more chances bacteria have to become resistant to them, which can then make bacterial infections much harder to treat when you do have one”, says Dr Weekes. In fact, anyone, anywhere, of any age, can get a superbug infection.
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Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is observing its Get Smart About Antibiotics Week by promoting efforts to get all USA hospitals to launch antibiotic stewardship programs, Only about 39 percent of hospitals have such programs, which systematically work to weed out antibiotic overuse and misuse, Hospitals & Health Networks reported. Further, about half of antibiotic prescriptions each year are ineffective or not considered the best treatment for the condition, the CDC says.
