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China is stepping up efforts to crack down on widespread prescription drug abuse that is leading to rising levels of antibiotic resistance across the country.
In the latest move to tackle the problem, the Ministry of Health has launched a nationwide surveillance system to document cases of antibiotic-resistant bacteria at 1,349 large public hospitals across the mainland.
There will also be closer monitoring of the system that keeps track of doctors' prescriptions of antibiotics at public hospitals.
And tough new regulations to control the clinical use of antibiotics will take effect on Aug 1. The moves come days after the World Health Organization weighed in on the growing threat from worldwide antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea. In a statement, the group warned that millions of people with gonorrhea could be at risk of running out of treatment options unless urgent action is taken.
Several countries, including Australia, France, Japan, Norway and Sweden, have reported cases of resistance to cephalosporin antibiotics - the last treatment option against the sexually transmitted disease.
"Antibiotic resistance has no borders, and curbing its misuse is a responsibility shared by all," said Zhao Minggang, deputy director of the department of medical administration under the ministry.
Zhao said it usually takes 10 years to develop new antibiotics, but bacterial resistance develops within two years, largely due to antibiotic abuse.
The ministry estimates that an average of 138 grams of antibiotics are used per person on the mainland each year, nearly 10 times the amount in the United States.
Seventy percent of inpatients and 50 percent of outpatients have prescriptions for antibiotics, according to the ministry.
"Without intervention, there may come a time when there are no effective antibiotics left," Zhao said.
Xiao Yonghong, an expert at the Institute of Clinical Pharmacology at Peking University, said at least 80 percent of the antibiotics used on the mainland are not necessary.
"This drives up medicine costs for the patients and the country," Xiao said. "This helps speed up the development of germs resistant to antibiotics, which might cost lives and jeopardize human safety and health."
Xiao said antibiotic resistance is now widespread on the Chinese mainland but the types of antibiotics, and the severity of the issue, vary regionally.
Research has shown that each year, deaths related to antibiotic abuse total 80,000 on the Chinese mainland and cost 80 billion yuan ($13 billion) of the medical budget.
The ministry has now introduced a series of measures, including regulations many said are the most stringent yet, to regulate the clinical use of antibiotics, which now account for 74 percent of total medicine usage, about 20 to 50 percent more than in Western countries.
The regulation will take effect on Aug 1.
It will restrict the amount of antibiotics allowed to be prescribed.
The regulation also stipulates that less than 60 percent of inpatients are allowed to take antibiotics, and no more than 20 percent of outpatients are allowed an antibiotic prescription.
"At present, a majority of large hospitals couldn't meet that target," said Lin Shaobin, deputy director of Fuzhou Second Hospital.
He said overprescription of antibiotics was largely related to the longtime clinical habits of doctors and hospitals' dependence on drug sales for income.
He also said surgeons tend to rely heavily on antibiotics to avert postoperative infections.
QUESTIONS
1 What is the Ministry of Health cracking down on?
2 What is the main concern?
3 How much antibiotics are used by people in China?
Answers
1. Widespread prescription drug abuse
2. Rising levels of antibiotic resistance across China
3. An average of 138 grams of antibiotics are used per person on the mainland each year, nearly 10 times the amount in the United States.
About the broadcaster:
Nelly Min is an editor at China Daily with more than 10 years of experience as a newspaper editor and photographer. She has worked at major newspapers in the U.S., including the Los Angeles Times and the Detroit Free Press. She is also fluent in Korean.