Superbugs: take the threat more seriously

This two-part series from India Together (May and June 2011) makes for sobering reading. Ramesh Menon makes a strong case for India to have a national antibiotic policy. He is right to highlight the problem of over-use in India but we’re not sure that “the West has woken up to the issue”: use of antibiotics by intensive farms in the US and Europe poses a threat that is at least as severe. It is also quite easy to call for a national strategy in India but over 80 per cent of healthcare  is provided through the private sector — a sophisticated programme of incentives and rewards will be needed if GPs, registered medical practitioners and pharmacists are to be given the tools to effect real change. Click through to the piece and let us know what you think