“Antibiotics are not always the best treatment for infections,” write Assistant Professor Clarence Tam and PhD student Jane Lim in their opinion piece for The Straits Times.
The cost of antimicrobial resistance, including antibiotic resistance, will be detrimental if nothing is done about it now. Drug-resistant infections could kill 7 million people annually by 2050 if no immediate action is taken, with half of those deaths occurring in Asia. Such infections increase healthcare costs by prolonging hospital stays and requiring treatment with more expensive drugs, and without effective antibiotics, we could even lose the ability to perform surgeries and other advanced medical procedures that rely on antibiotics to prevent infections.
“If we do not think twice about how we use them, the best treatment could soon be nothing.”
How can we impede the rise of antibiotic resistance? Read on to find out:
- The global fight against antibiotic-resistant bacteria, The Straits Times Opinion, 31 October 2017