THERE is around one physician for every one thousand people in Pakistan. The resulting vacuum has seemingly been filled by an assortment of quacks and lay people playing the role of medical professionals. One of the side effects of this gross inadequacy in health services has been the unchecked rise of self-medication.
Health experts have now revealed that an alarming 70% of antibiotics are being used unnecessarily in Pakistan. The indiscriminate use of antibiotic medicines can lead to the rise of deadly drug-resistant bacteria and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Of the five million people around the world who lose their lives to complications arising from AMR an estimated 14% are from Pakistan, with AMR leading to around 700,000 deaths annually in the country as infections caused by bacteria that are not responding to third and fourth-generation antibiotics according to health experts. This makes AMR the third leading cause of death in Pakistan after cardiovascular diseases and maternal and neonatal disorders.
The indiscriminate use of antibiotics in Pakistan is contributing to the rise of drug-resistant bacteria, which cause around 300,000 deaths per year. This unchecked misuse of antibiotics could be leading to up to a million deaths annually. Given the severe lack of access to even basic healthcare services, it is understandable why many people resort to self-medication. The healthcare costs in Pakistan have spiraled out of control, with the cost of providing healthcare services reportedly tripling between 2021 and 2023 due to rising consultation fees, a 30% hike in medicine prices, and increased costs for diagnostic tests.
For most Pakistanis, obtaining a diagnosis or consultation is simply unaffordable, pushing them towards unprofessional medical advice from friends, relatives, and unlicensed quacks. Furthermore, it is rare for medical stores to enforce prescription requirements for antibiotics, contributing to Pakistan being the world’s third-largest consumer of antibiotics after India and China. This unregulated access and misuse of antibiotics exacerbate the public health crisis and underscore the urgent need for stricter supervision of pharmaceutical practices and expanded, affordable healthcare services.
Aside from stricter supervision of doctors and those pretending to be doctors, there also needs to be an expansion of healthcare services in the country to cope with this issue. People need to be able to get a diagnosis and consultation at affordable prices in order to ensure that they are prescribed the right medication and not given antibiotics unnecessarily. It is necessary to crack down on pharmacies issuing antibiotics and other drugs without a prescription and those selling medication without a license.
—The writer is contributing columnist.
