Due to incomplete or unnecessary use of antibiotics, citizens in Pakistan are facing a growing threat of antimicrobial resistance.
According to medical experts, 200,000 to 300,000 people in the country die every year directly or indirectly due to drug resistant infections, while the number of such patients is also increasing in intensive care units where infections are caused by multidrug resistant bacteria. Doctors warn that if the situation continues, according to estimates by the World Health Organization, antimicrobial resistance could cause up to 10 million deaths worldwide every year by 2050.
In this regard, Head of the Molecular Pathology Laboratory at Dow University of Health Sciences, Professor Dr Saeed Khan, said that according to the World Health Organization, antimicrobial resistance develops when bacteria, viruses, fungi, or parasites change over time and become resistant to medicines, making infections difficult or sometimes impossible to treat.
He said antimicrobial resistance is a global threat because it prolongs the duration of illness, increases treatment costs, and raises the risk of complications and deaths. This situation is also posing a serious threat to surgery, chemotherapy, and critical care services.
He added that according to World Health Organization estimates, if this issue is not controlled, antimicrobial resistance could lead to 10 million deaths annually worldwide by 2050.
According to Professor Dr Saeed Khan, Pakistan is among the countries facing a severe risk of antibiotic resistance. Major reasons include the use of antibiotics without prescription, incomplete or unnecessary use of medicines, poor infection control arrangements in hospitals, excessive use of antibiotics in livestock and poultry, and weak surveillance and reporting systems.
He said that the most resistant bacteria found in major hospitals of Karachi include Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Acinetobacter baumannii, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and extensively drug resistant Salmonella typhi. These bacteria are proving to be particularly dangerous in urinary tract infections, ICU infections, and diseases such as typhoid. After influenza, bacterial pneumonia has become more deadly because first line antibiotics often become ineffective, leading to delays in effective treatment and increased disease severity. Children, the elderly, and individuals with weak immune systems are at higher risk of antimicrobial resistance.
He further said that in the ICUs, neonatal units, surgical wards, TB wards, and infection wards of Karachi hospitals, multidrug resistant gram negative infections and extensively drug resistant typhoid have become major challenges.
Dr Saeed Khan added that Pakistan is among the countries with the highest burden of tuberculosis, while multidrug resistant and extensively drug resistant TB has become an emergency issue. Such patients require prolonged and expensive treatment for 18 to 24 months, and the risk of treatment failure and death is significantly higher.
He said that according to various studies, 40 to 70 percent of patients in ICUs of major public and private hospitals in the country suffer from infections caused by multidrug resistant organisms, mostly gram negative bacteria, making treatment even more complicated.
Microbiologist Dr Syeda Sadaf Akbar said that Pakistan ranks 29th among 204 countries in terms of antibiotic resistance. According to various data, 200,000 to 300,000 people die every year in Pakistan directly or indirectly due to antimicrobial resistance. The rate of antibiotic resistance is increasing annually, and data shows an increase of 5 to 15 percent worldwide.
