Over-prescription and sale of over-the-counter antibiotics is leading to a rise of resistant super-bugs, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned, with the Maldives no exception.
“Antibiotics are the most misused drugs in the country,” ADK Chief Operating Officer Ahmed Jamsheed told Minivan News today. “People are becoming resistant, and in certain cases they might not even need the antiobiotics.”
The WHO is discussing the overuse of antibiotics and growth of superbugs at the 64th meeting of the Regional Committee for South-East Asia, in Jaipur this week.
Director General Dr Margaret Chan said, “we have taken antibiotics and other antimicrobials for granted. And we have failed to handle these precious, yet fragile medicines with appropriate care. The message is clear. The world is on the brink of losing its miracle cures.”
Jamsheed said he has seen patients with headaches prescribed with powerful antibiotics, such as ciprofloxacin. He says a lack of systematic supervision allows pharmacists, who are not educated in medicine, to give antibiotics to anyone who asks regardless of a prescription.
“We have a very rudimentary diagnostic capacity in the Maldives,” said Jamsheed. “Hospitals and physicians are not properly monitored, and patients have a lot of independence to choose the drug they want. There are few national guidelines.”
According to Jamsheed, hospital diagnoses are compromised by inadequate facilities. He said that as organisms mutate, doctors are not able to keep up. Bacteria samples are usually outsourced, and communication can take weeks. “In some cases, we may not be able to recognise and diagnose a disease until we’ve already lost a few patients,” he said.
Superbugs, or super bacterium, are bacteria that carry several resistant genes and are difficult to treat. When a disease is inappropriately or excessively treated with antibiotics, the body develops an immunity which encourages the bacteria to grow stronger.
Dr Chan said many non-communicable diseases, such as heart disease and cancers, are triggered by “population ageing, rapid unplanned urbanization, and the globalisation of unhealthy lifestyles.”
Chan also noted that “irrational and inappropriate use of antimicrobials is by far the biggest driver of drug resistance.” As communities become more drug resistant, treatments could become more complicated and costly.
ADK Managing Director Ahmed Affal said education was important. “There is an increasing number of antibiotics being prescribed in the Maldives, and we need to talk more. Research shows that there will be problems, as organisms become more resistant.”
Affal said that the majority of cases at ADK are fevers and infections, although heart disease, hypertension, and renal infections are on the rise. “Antibiotics are commonly used for lung infections, and sometimes are given as a preventative measure,” he said.
Speakers at the WHO conference suggested that climate change could accelerate the growth of superbugs. Jamsheed told Minivan News that Maldivians could be more at risk for dengue fever and chikungunya, as well as viral diseases. He predicted that if these diseases were to become more common, the misuse of antibiotics would increase as well and people would become more drug resistant.
“The Maldives is not isolated,” Jamsheed said. “We import almost everything, and any bacteria that is growing elsewhere in the region and the world will certainly be transmitted here.”
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