'Antibiotics Use In China Posing Superbug Threat'

Consumption of antibiotics skyrocketed 79 percent in China over the last 15 years, a global study has found, stoking calls for new policies to rein in usage – and fuelling fears that the worldwide threat posed by drug-resistant superbugs will spiral out of control, researchers say.

China, along with India, where consumption doubled and Pakistan, where it rose 65 percent, were the biggest users of antibiotics among the countries deemed low and middle-income for the purposes of the study.

The three countries also suffer in some areas from poor sanitation, irregular access to vaccines and a lack of cleaning drinking water – all conditions that allow infectious diseases and drug-resistant infections to spread.

"Radical rethinking of policies to reduce consumption is necessary, including major investments in improved hygiene, sanitation, vaccination, and access to diagnostic tools both to prevent unnecessary antibiotic use and to decrease the burden of infectious disease," the study says.

Global consumption of antibiotics has soared since the year 2000, according to the study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) – based on sales data for 76 countries.

The research team headed by scientists from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and the Centre for Disease Dynamics, Economics and Policy in the US capital said countries needed to invest in alternative treatments, sanitation and vaccination.

"With antibiotic consumption increasing worldwide, the challenge posed by antibiotic resistance is likely to get worse," said the authors of the study, which was published in Monday's edition of PNAS.

"Antibiotic resistance, driven by antibiotic consumption, is a growing global health threat," it said. "As with climate change, there may be an unknown tipping point, and this could herald a future without effective antibiotics." (AFP)