Over the decades, medical science has taken great strides forward to improve the quality of human life and reduce suffering caused by disease and illnesses.
However, people’s increasing desire for quick-fixes for their aches and pains has had an unfortunate side-effect: antibiotics, one of the main weapons in the fight against disease-causing pathogens, have become increasingly ineffective because they are not being properly used.
Over prescription by doctors and patients not completing their course of medicine has resulted in pathogens developing resistance to the drugs. As a result, it is becoming more difficult to cure infections, like tuberculosis, as bacteria have become immune to the medication. This creates the danger that more virulent forms of the disease can spread more easily and existing treatments will become less effective. As a result, doctors and scientists are having to develop more treatments at great cost in time and money. In the meantime, lives are in danger.
All medication must be treated with great care and respect and doctors and patients must ensure that they are properly prescribed and used at all times.
