Karachi: Excessive use of antibiotic drugs has become the cause of 7 lakh deaths every year in Pakistan.
Experts say that as a result of infections caused by bacteria resistant to antibiotic drugs, 300,000 people die directly in Pakistan every year, while 700,000 people die of various complications every year. become Antimicrobial resistance, or the increasing resistance of bacteria to antibiotic drugs, is the third leading cause of death in Pakistan after heart diseases and maternal and child deaths.
Pakistan is the third largest consumer of antibiotics after China and India, where antibiotics worth 126 billion rupees were used in 2023 alone. Do not buy and use. These views were expressed by officials and health experts while addressing a press conference after Sunday’s conference on antimicrobial resistance. The conference was organized by the leading pharmaceutical company Gates Pharma in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health, Health Services Academy and National Institute of Health Islamabad.
More than 1400 health experts including federal and provincial health secretaries, director general health of four provinces, presidents and general secretaries of more than 13 medical societies of Pakistan, medical students, and health related people participated in the conference.
Speaking at the conference, Vice Chancellor of Health Services Academy Prof. Shehzad Ali Khan said that antibiotics were magic drugs that saved millions of lives during great wars and pandemics, but these drugs have been unnecessary for some time. And overuse is rendering these drugs ineffective.
He further said that due to the use of antibiotics without medical advice, excessive use of antibiotics by doctors in patients and the actions of doctors, resistance to these drugs is developing in bacteria, which is now a global problem. It is becoming a medical challenge. Former Minister of Health of Punjab and President of Pakistan Society of Internal Medicine Professor Javed Akram said that antimicrobial resistance has become the third major problem for Pakistan after population growth and non-communicable diseases. The main reason is that these drugs are used like toffees.
He said that antibiotics are like poison, just as people do not use cancer drugs on their own, they should not use antibiotics without medical advice.
Professor Javed Akram said that Pakistan is the only country in the world where there are diseases such as XDR typhoid, multi-drug resistant TB, pneumonia and diarrhea which are no longer affected by third and fourth generation antibiotic drugs.
National Institute of Health Islamabad’s focal person Dr. Afreen Amir said on this occasion that antibiotic drugs worth 126 billion rupees were used in Pakistan last year. As a result, resistance to these drugs is increasing in bacteria.
World renowned pediatrician and medical scientist Professor Zulfiqar Bhatta advised the public on this occasion that they must get their children vaccinated against typhoid, which the government is giving to children for free. He said that vaccination protects children from various diseases. Saves from
Speaking on the occasion, Gates Pharma’s Associate Director Public Health Dr. Wajiha Javed said that along with the indiscriminate use of antibiotics, substandard medicines manufactured in the country can also cause antimicrobial resistance.
He said on this occasion that his company is working on the National Action Plan regarding Antimicrobial Assistance in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health and the National Institute of Health, Islamabad. On this occasion, Gates Pharma and 13 medical societies of Pakistan. , Federal Ministry of Health, National Institute of Health Islamabad and Health Services Academy signed various agreements under which these institutions will work together to reduce the unnecessary use of antibiotics.
