Growing antibiotic resistance in India is of great concern, opined healthcare experts while expressing fear over increasing incidence of drug-resistant tuberculosis.
Tuberculosis is estimated to kill about 2.15 lakh to three lakh people annually in the country with a global burden of half million deaths. The disease is prevalent in all parts of the country and is said to be worsening due to growing drug resistance. Sowmya Swaminathan, Director General of ICMR, expressed concern over growing antibiotic resistance in the disease causing bacteria - Mycobacteriuam tuberculosis. She said such cases account for about five per cent of the cases and a slight lower percentage of deaths.
“Extreme drug-resistance TB is also growing in incidence,” said Ramanan Laxminarayan, a member of the Public Health Foundation of India.
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Both experts identified non-compliance to prescribed treatment regimens, inadequate patient tracking and outdated diagnostic practises as contributing to increased incidence of drug resistance TB. Misuse of antimicrobials and resistance to drugs in other countries including South Africa, Nepal, Kenya and Mozambique was also discussed at the congress. In a study published on Thursday in the journal ‘PLOS Medicine’, Prof. Ramanan pointed out that over-the-counter non-prescription sales of antibiotics like carbapenems in India are among the highest in the world.
The paper called for improving regulation of drug production and sales, besides striving for change in doctor and patient behaviour.