Antibiotics under the red mark: A Wake-up call from WHO for Bangladesh
Antibiotic practices and alarming resistance in
Bangladesh
Antibiotics are widely accessible and commonly used
without adequate medical oversight in Bangladesh;
pharmacies and informal drug sellers often act as the
first point of care, and self-medication is pervasive. A
WHO-DGDA baseline survey and national antimicrobialuse
monitoring have documented that a large proportion
of retail drug outlets possess limited knowledge about
antibiotics and routinely dispense them without
prescription.1 This behavior is compounded by
incomplete treatment courses, empirical use for likely
viral illnesses, and extensive antibiotic use in animal
production and aquaculture, creating broad selection
pressure for resistance.2