India leads in antibiotic use, it’s a resistance red flag

March 27, 2018 9:17:46 am

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New study reveals antibiotic use in India doubled between 2000 and 2015

Antibiotic consumption in India has increased the fastest in the southeast Asian region, according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The study reported: “Between 2000 and 2015, antibiotic consumption increased from 3.2 to 6.5 billion DDDs (103%) in India, from 2.3 to 4.2 billion DDDs (79%) in China, and from 0.8 to 1.3 billion DDDs (65%) in Pakistan. The antibiotic consumption rate increased from 8.2 to 13.6 DDDs per 1,000 inhabitants per day (63%) in India, from 5.1 to 8.4 DDDs per1,000 inhabitants per day (65%) in China, and from 16.2 to 19.6 DDDs per 1,000 inhabitants per day (21%) in Pakistan.”

Antibiotic resistance, driven by antibiotic consumption, is a growing global health threat. The report on antibiotic use in 76 countries over 16 years provides an up-to-date comprehensive assessment of global trends in antibiotic consumption.

DDD or defined daily doses is the unit used to track antibiotic consumption patterns over time and across countries based using the IQVIA MIDAS database. IQVIA uses national sample surveys of antibiotic sales to develop estimates of the total volume of sales of each antibiotic molecule (or combination of molecules). For each country, antibiotic consumption was reported by month or quarter and broken down between the retail and hospital sectors.

Antibiotic resistance, driven by antibiotic consumption, is a growing global health threat. The report on antibiotic use in 76 countries over 16 years provides an up-to-date comprehensive assessment of global trends in antibiotic consumption.

The study found “that the antibiotic consumption rate in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) has been converging to (and in some countries surpassing) levels typically observed in high-income countries. However, inequities in drug access persist, as many LMICs continue to be burdened with high rates of infectious disease-related mortality and low rates of antibiotic consumption. Our findings emphasize the need for global surveillance of antibiotic consumption to support policies to reduce antibiotic consumption and resistance while providing access to these lifesaving drugs.”

Battling drug resistant related problems on multiple flanks, but acutely battling it in its war on TB elimination where lack of patient compliance has spawned massive spike in cases of drug resistant TB, India has already launched a national action plan against antimicrobial resistance.