Letters | China can do more to squash antibiotic-resistant superbugs

Readers discuss the need for stronger policy on antimicrobial resistance, and how Hong Kong should respond to the banking crisis

Reading Time:2 minutes

A woman buys medicine in a pharmacy in Shanghai on March 10. In China, 84 per cent of pharmacies still provide antibiotics without prescriptions. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 11:30am, 1 Apr 2023

Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at [email protected] or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words, and must include your full name and address, plus a phone number for verification.

Antimicrobial resistance is one of the defining global problems of our time.

Drug-resistant bacterial infections killed an estimated 1.27 million people in 2019. By 2050, 10 million lives annually could be lost to antimicrobial resistance, and annual global gross domestic product could fall by between 1.1 per cent and 3.8 per cent.

Fortunately, Chinese policymakers, physicians and patients have shown what is possible when they focus collective efforts on antimicrobial resistance. The unnecessary use of antibiotics in hospitals was significantly reduced following awareness campaigns in 2011. Moreover, the government’s recent push to limit sales of drugs treating Covid-19 symptoms made it harder for patients nationwide to self-medicate with antibiotics.

And China can do more. In the Global Coalition on Aging’s 2021 AMR Preparedness Index, China scored a paltry 37 on a 100-point scale. The report found that Chinese policy on antimicrobial resistance was weak in areas such as innovation and national strategy.

China could join the World Health Organization’s Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS) and commit to improving communication with the international community on surveillance and monitoring.