“Unregulated antibiotic use in Gulf Cooperation Council”
“According to studies, although non-prescription sale of antibiotics is illegal in the GCC states, 68 per cent of pharmacies in Abu Dhabi, 78 per cent in Riyadh and 87 out of 88 pharmacies in Saudi Arabia sell them without a prescription.
Antibiotic resistance is one of the world’s deadliest health crises. Without concerted action, the annual death toll could reach 10 million by 2050 which is more than the number of deaths from cancer, cholera, measles and traffic accidents combined.
The cumulative impact on global economic output could reach $1 trillion by 2050. Hence, the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHP) is working on new legislations to end the dangerous consequences of the random intake of antibiotics.
Dr Amin Hussein Al Amiri, assistant undersecretary for Public Health Policy and Licences, chairman of the higher committee for Drug Alerting in the UAE, said the indiscriminate use of antibiotics leads to epidemics, unless intervention and radical solutions are found.”
Source: Khaleej Times
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