Today is World Health Day
Today the World Health Organisation (WHO) is warning the world about the rising tide of drug resistance for many infections. The irrational use of medicines is a worldwide phenomenon but it is particularly high in developing countries, including Egypt.
If you have a fever and bad cough and you go to the GP in the UK, she/he will not prescribe any antibiotics unless there are real signs of bacterial infection. Even then they will start with simple medicines such as ampicillin.
In Egypt you do not even need a doctor’s prescription to buy a sophisticated antibiotic that should be reserved for certain infections or complicated cases. There are very few studies that scientifically monitor drug resistance in Egypt. So the size of the problem is not known except from anecdotal evidence from doctors. Available studies show strains of Haemophilus influenzae becoming resistant to ampicillin, and of Streptococcus pneumoniae becoming resistant to co-trimoxazole. The percentage of resistance is 25% in Egypt [1]
Meantime the world’s ministers of health, including Egyptian minister, have signed numerous resolutions at the WHO, which commit them to ensuring rational use of drugs. It is time that Egypt implements these resolutions and save the few antibiotics left before all cheap antibiotics become obsolete.
It is worth saying that antibiotic resistance results from irrational use in human health and excessive use in veterinary health. I do not know how popular is antibiotic usage in animal health in Egypt. Does the ministry of health keep an eye on this issue?
If you read this piece and you have done research on antibiotic resistance in human or animal health, I would be very interested to hear from you.
[1] Quoted in: Rasmussen Z., Pio A.; and Enarson P. (2000) Case management of childhood pneumonia in developing countries: recent relevant research and current initiatives. Int. J. Tuberc Lung Dis 4(9):807-26
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