ISLAMABAD: Health experts have disclosed that a staggering 70% of antibiotics in Pakistan are being used unnecessarily. This revelation was made during the Antimicrobial Stewardship Conference in Karachi, supported by the National Institute for Health Services Academy.
Experts at the conference highlighted the severe global impact of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), noting that it causes 5 million deaths worldwide annually. The indiscriminate use of antibiotics was identified as a critical issue, underscoring the urgent need for control measures.
Professor Shahzad Ali Khan, Vice Chancellor of Islamabad’s Health Services Academy (HSA), shared a concerning statistic: AMR is now the third leading cause of death in Pakistan, with an estimated 300,000 deaths due to drug-resistant bacteria and 700,000 deaths due to AMR each year. He stated, “Antimicrobial resistance is now the third leading cause of death after cardiovascular disease and maternal and neonatal disorders in Pakistan. We now have infections caused by bacteria that are not responding to third- and fourth-generation antibiotics.”
Health officials, public health experts, physicians, and policymakers at the event expressed concern over Pakistan being the third-largest consumer of antibiotics globally, following China and India. They noted that antibiotics worth Rs126 billion were consumed in Pakistan in 2023 alone, urging people not to purchase and use antibiotics without the advice of trained and qualified physicians.
Prof. Khan emphasized that the misuse of antibiotics by doctors, quacks, and the general public is rendering these essential medicines ineffective. He explained that while antibiotics have saved millions of lives during world wars and pandemics, their irrational use has led to AMR, which is becoming a global public health concern.
“Self-medication, unjustified prescriptions of antibiotics by quacks and physicians, taking antibiotics for a shorter duration, and the production of substandard antibiotics by some companies are major causes of antimicrobial resistance,” he added.