Antibiotic Policy In India - A Must

-

India’s Silent Epidemic: The Unethical Use of Antibiotics

In the race to treat infections quickly, India finds itself in the dangerous lane of antibiotic misuse—both in hospitals and in the community. While antibiotics were once hailed as miracle drugs, today their indiscriminate use has become one of the country’s gravest healthcare threats.

Ethics on Ventilator

Antibiotics are meant to be prescribed with caution, but in India, they are often handed out like candies. Be it a viral sore throat or a minor fever, antibiotics are given without confirming bacterial cause. Worse still, pharmacists continue to dispense them over-the-counter, bypassing the need for a prescription altogether.

In hospitals, especially in ICUs, broad-spectrum antibiotics are used as a knee-jerk reaction—often before any culture is taken. This “shoot-first-ask-later” policy creates resistant superbugs and kills off beneficial bacteria, making future infections harder to treat.

From Miracle to Mayhem

The ethical problem lies not just in overuse, but in how they are used. Most hospitals lack proper antimicrobial stewardship programs. Doctors feel pressured by patient demands or the fear of litigation. The result? Escalation to higher antibiotics without proper indication, and often, without any follow-up.

In the community, awareness is dangerously low. Patients self-medicate, demand quick fixes, and believe antibiotics cure everything—from a cold to COVID. Sadly, few understand the long-term damage this causes—not just to themselves but to society.

A Looming Public Health Catastrophe

India is already seeing a spike in multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs). These “superbugs” are making even simple infections lethal. Surgical procedures, cancer treatments, and intensive care are all at risk because when antibiotics fail, modern medicine fails.

What Needs to Change?

  • Ban over-the-counter sales of antibiotics.

  • Implement mandatory stewardship programs in all hospitals.

  • Train doctors and pharmacists in rational prescribing.

  • Launch mass public awareness campaigns on antibiotic resistance.

  • Encourage culture-based diagnosis before starting treatment.

The Way Forward

The ethical use of antibiotics is not just a medical issue—it’s a moral one. We owe it to future generations to act responsibly today. The war against bacteria is not won in labs alone—it’s won in how wisely we use the weapons we already have.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

-
 Yet another malayalam movie, "CBI Ramachandran Retired SI". I can vouch than no other language in the whole world can boast of taking a movie without a Superstar or star ensamble. A simple movie with again a great story with an excellent narration. The screenplay is so good that, the entire movie is not at all dragging and on top of it gripping to the end. As usual the actors, Kalabhavan Shajon, Biju, and the other cast's has done jusitce to thier roles. Another revolution happening to the malayalam movie is the second generation. Sanoop Sathyan, son of Sathyan Anthikad has done an excellent craftman ship as the director. Today if you take the second generation of Malayalam film indurstry almost all of them have made a stamp of his/her own.  Coming back to the movie, it revolves around a murder mystry and how Ramachandran Retired SI solves the case. It's a make belief story, even then it has been scripted so good and well Directed. The background score is delicately ...
Read more

Medical Representative- The Fulcrum of the Company'

-
I am a second-generation Pharmaceutical employee, because of my father. He worked in an Indian Company which is now more than 150 years old for 42 years ( Can anybody Imagine now?.) My father was a Medical Representative for 35 years and the company could not terminate him (Joking) because he was doing the so called "Targets" month after month, but will not go to the field. The Doctor's and the stockist's use to come to our home those days. A doctor would ask for a course of Antibiotic (Cephalexin) which was considered as the ultimate in community acquired infection and he would give 2 strips of 2 capsules and ask the Doctor to buy the rest from the medical shop. I do not now it was his arrogance, or it was the way the Doctor's respected him those days. The company promoted him as Sales Manger in it's Kochi Depot and he continued to work for another 7 years. He was handling the entire state of Kerala, the M.R's, Managers and even in the month end he was as...
Read more

Blog on "Nadanna Sambavam"

-
 Today I watched a movie "Nadanna Sambavam", a malayalam movie, directed by Vishnu Narayanan starring Biju Menon, Suraj Venjaramoodu and others. A well crafted script and direction was excellent. Both actors have done extremely good, but I will give Suraj an extra pat on the back, because of his sutility to enact the character. He has really matured from an ordinary comedy artist to a genius of an actor. This is the advantage of the new trend of malayalam movies. You don't require Super stars or require granduer sets to take a movie. The theme is the winner and the simple story with a make belief characters takes this movie way ahead from others. 
Read more