Globally, around 700,000 people die each year from infections resistant to the standard drugs used to treat them, and this number is projected to rise to 10 million deaths per year unless urgent, concerted action is taken to address antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
In this piece, Assistant Professor Clarence Tam and PhD student Ms Jane Lim illustrate the impact of AMR and the loss of effective antimicrobial drugs to treat infections. For example, without effective antibiotics, it will be difficult to perform advanced medical procedures that rely on antibiotics to prevent and treat infections.
The authors also highlight results from a recent survey of over 700 Singaporean residents aged 21 and above that explored community knowledge and awareness about antibiotics and antibiotic resistance.
Most participants had heard of antibiotics (98 per cent) and antibiotic resistance (60 per cent), and recognised that antibiotics as medicine could help them recover from bacterial infections (80 per cent). Encouragingly, only 10 per cent of participants explicitly asked their doctor for antibiotics, and majority were aware they should not keep leftover antibiotics or share them with others.
However, the survey revealed some common misconceptions. Over a third of respondents thought antibiotics could help them recover from the common cold and flu (which are caused by viruses, so antibiotics are not effective against them).
Many also believed that antibiotic resistance occurs because antibiotics become less powerful or that the human body becomes resistant to the antibiotics. In fact, it is the bacteria that develops resistance to antibiotics.
“It helps to improve health messaging to address common misconceptions among the public; it is crucial that we all understand how we can act responsibly to ensure that antibiotics remain effective for everyone,” wrote Dr Tam and Ms Lim.
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