PM Modi cautions people against indiscriminate use of antibiotics

• In his monthly ‘Mann Ki Baat’ radio address, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people not to take antibiotics without consulting a doctor.

• PM Modi said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) recently released a report which said that antibiotics were proving ineffective against many diseases like pneumonia and Urinary Tract Infections (UTI).

• According to the report, a major reason for this is people's indiscriminate use of antibiotics. 

What are antibiotics?

• Scottish physician-scientist Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928.

• Antibiotics are widely credited as one of the most important medical discoveries in human history.

• Antibiotics treat infections caused by bacteria. 

• Bacteria are very small organisms, and billions of them live in and on your body. Most of the time these bacteria are harmless or even helpful for your body. 

• For example, bacteria in your gut help you to digest food. But some bacteria can cause diseases.

• Antibiotics are antimicrobial medicines. 

• They work by killing bacteria, slowing their growth or stopping them from causing infection. 

• Antibiotics help the body’s natural immune system fight bacterial infections.

• Many mild bacterial infections get better on their own without using antibiotics.

• Antibiotics do not work for viral infections such as colds and flu, and most coughs.

• Taking antibiotics when they aren’t needed actually increases the risk that bacteria become resistant to antibiotics. 

What is antimicrobial resistance?

• Antimicrobials — including antibiotics, anti-virals, antifungals, and antiparasitics — are medicines used to prevent and treat infectious diseases in humans, animals and plants.

• Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) occurs when bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites no longer respond to antimicrobial medicines. 

• As a result of drug resistance, antibiotics and other antimicrobial medicines become ineffective and infections become difficult or impossible to treat, increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness, disability and death.

• AMR is a natural process that happens over time through genetic changes in pathogens. Its emergence and spread is accelerated by human activity, mainly the misuse and overuse of antimicrobials to treat, prevent or control infections in humans, animals and plants.

• Micro-organisms that develop antimicrobial resistance are sometimes referred to as “superbugs”.

• AMR threatens the very core of modern medicine and the sustainability of an effective, global public health response to the enduring threat from infectious diseases. 

• AMR threatens the safety and effectiveness of procedures such as surgical interventions, cancer treatment, and organ transplants thereby having the potential to reverse the advancements made not just in modern medicine but also the growth and economy at the global and national levels.

• It is estimated that bacterial AMR was directly responsible for 1.27 million global deaths in 2019 and contributed to 4.95 million deaths.

• In addition to death and disability, AMR has significant economic costs. The World Bank estimates that AMR could result in $1 trillion additional healthcare costs by 2050, and $1 trillion to $3.4 trillion Gross Domestic Product (GDP) losses per year by 2030.

• Antimicrobial resistance is a drain on the global economy with economic losses due to reduced productivity caused by sickness (of both human beings and animals) and higher costs of treatment.

• Systematic misuse and overuse of these drugs in human medicine and food production have put every nation at risk. Few replacement products are in the pipeline. 

• Without harmonised and immediate action on a global scale, the world is heading towards a post-antibiotic era in which common infections could once again kill.

• To counter it needs long-term investment, such as financial and technical support for developing countries and in development of new medicines, diagnostic tools, vaccines and other interventions, and in strengthening health systems to ensure more appropriate use of and access to antimicrobial agents.