Antibiotics unarmed

In one year, antimicrobial resistance directly contributed to the deaths of 6,400 Nepalis.

Perhaps most of us have been guilty of it at one point or the other. We often gulp down unnecessary antibiotics even for fever, cold, cough and diarrhoea. Rather dangerously, these drugs can easily be purchased over the counter in one of the pharmacies and clinics mushrooming throughout the country. What’s more, many people also self-medicate with leftover medicines without any prescriptions from doctors. As a result, our bodies fall into the trap of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which decreases the effectiveness of drugs used to treat specific ailments. No wonder AMR has now become a global burden. According to The Lancet , a medical magazine, AMR directly caused 1.27 million global deaths ( 6,400 in Nepal) in 2019 while indirectly contributing to around five million deaths (23,200 in Nepal).