Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, May 13: Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) today said that more than two third of antibiotics are needlessly prescribed by doctors in the valley.
“Doctors write antibiotics to patients who do not need them,” DAK President, Dr Nisar ul Hassan in a statement said.
“You go to a doctor with runny nose, sore throat, cough, ear or sinus discharge, you will walk away with a prescription for antibiotics. These conditions are caused by viruses against which antibiotics have no effect,” he said.
Dr Nisar said with no regulations, you can get antibiotics from chemist shops without a prescription adding that chemist shops give antibiotics for everything from malaise, fatigue, body ache to headache.
He said unnecessary antibiotic use has led to the emergence of deadly bugs that are resistant to all antibiotics. “With no antibiotics, cancer chemotherapy, organ transplantation and even simple surgery will become impossible and we will be facing a future where cough or cut can kill once again,” he said.
“Not only inappropriate use has helped microbes to evolve into resistant bugs, but patients are needlessly put at risk of serious side effects of antibiotics. Misuse of antibiotics wipes out body’s good bacteria that is contributing to rise in chronic conditions like obesity, asthma and cancer,” he added.
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