China faces great risk due to overuse of antibiotics

Since the government suddenly withdrew from the public health care system, in which it had played a leading role over the past 30 years, China’s medical establishments have become so profitable that drug sales form a significant part of hospitals’ income, leading to severe drug overuse. In China, the ratio of drug costs against the total expenses for medical treatment is about 50 per cent, which is extremely rare around the world. 

The overuse of antibiotics is a particular concern. China has become the world’s top antibiotics consuming country, with an annual per-capita consumption of antibiotics at 138 grams, or 10 times that of the average American. According to data from the World Health Organisation, up to 80 per cent of all hospital admissions in China receive some type of antibiotic, in which broad-spectrum antibiotics and multiple antibiotic courses account for 58 per cent, much higher than the international level of 30 per cent.

In China, the overuse of antibiotics is not only driven by physicians, but also by the changing of patients’ perception of medical treatment. After receiving pharmaceutical-oriented treatment over the past 30 years, Chinese patients have become addicted to Western medicines, especially antibiotics. They frequently take the initiative to ask for antibiotics for some common conditions such as colds and coughs, and sometimes even fall out with their physicians over the use of antibiotics. Patients who self-medicate can purchase inappropriate antibiotics over the counter in pharmacies.

With this joint promotion by both physicians and patients, antibiotics are excessively prescribed in the Chinese medical system, even to children. Newborn babies are often given intravenous injections. It is shocking that in China the overuse of antibiotics results in 80,000 deaths every year, directly or indirectly, as well as immeasurable human organ damage and the production of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. This issue has drawn much attention from the international community.

In addition to the medical system, the overuse of antibiotics is also common in China’s livestock and fish farming, as well as other food production processes. For example, antibiotics are widely used in the raising of livestock and poultry, aquaculture and dairy production. According to Yu Jun, the associate director of the Beijing Institute of Genomics, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the overuse of antibiotics is more astounding in the course of livestock breeding, as the price of antibiotics for livestock is lower than that for human beings. Consequently, antibiotics are excessively introduced into the entire food chain of China, leading to the distortive overuse of antibiotics among all Chinese people.

As China is the largest country in terms of population, the wide use of antibiotics consequently gives China the largest number of people who are affected by the overuse of antibiotics. Once an antibiotic resistance emerges, the country will encounter the potential threat of superbugs. Faced with such a great risk, the Chinese government should take immediate action to prevent the overuse of antibiotics in several ways:

1. To rectify the current situation that hospitals rely on drug sales as their primary source of income by pushing forward institutional reform of the health care system, especially hospital reform. Only by overturning the mechanism in which both hospitals and physicians rely on earning through excessive pharmaceutical prescription will the overuse of antibiotics be stopped.

2. To prevent the overuse of antibiotics at the source by strengthening regulations on food safety and imposing harsh penalties on those who violate such regulations.

3. To enhance public service announcements to help the general population understand health issues and medical treatments. All advertisements about medical treatment or pharmaceuticals should be put under strict regulation. No pharmaceutical commercial should be permitted to be released in public media including television, newspapers and the Internet.

 

Li Jing is a member of  the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council on Population Growth.