Antibiotic resistance

Antibiotics have saved millions of lives, but careless use is making them less and less effective.

Antibiotic resistance is when bacteria that a medicine used to kill now survive and multiply despite it. It is the bacteria that change, not your body. Common infections then become harder to treat, illness lasts longer, and complications and even death become more likely.

How it builds up:

• antibiotics are taken when they aren't needed, or a course is stopped early;
• the medicine kills the bacteria causing the illness, and also the good bacteria that protect us;
• a few tough bacteria survive: they are resistant;
• with the others gone, the resistant ones grow and take over;
• some even pass their resistance on to other bacteria.

How resistant bacteria spread: between patients, directly or through healthcare workers; from dirty hospital surfaces; into the community when patients go home; from animals given antibiotics, through animal food products; and through soil in fields, via manure or animal faeces, into the crops we eat.

What we can do: take antibiotics only when a doctor prescribes them, in the right dose, for the full time the doctor says. Avoiding needless use keeps antibiotics working, for us and for people in the future.

Traditional medicine. Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani have long been used in India for common health problems. They use natural substances such as herbs, oils and minerals, and stress a healthy lifestyle and balanced diet. The book is fair about them: they can help with some conditions and with everyday well-being, but they may not work for all diseases and at all stages.

For non-communicable diseases, treatment aims to manage symptoms and improve daily life through medicines, lifestyle changes and rehabilitation. For diabetes that may mean less sugar; for high blood pressure, less salt. Early diagnosis and regular care are the key to slowing the disease and avoiding complications.