S.O.S on life saving drugs

12th August 2016

Health chiefs are asking medics and patients alike to join the fight to save one of the world’s most precious drugs.

We’ve all heard of antibiotics and probably most of us have taken at least one course of them during our lifetime.

But did you know that sometimes they are the only medicines that can be used to treat major life threatening illnesses like pneumonia and meningitis? Or that without them, routine treatments like setting fractured bones or basic operations will become increasingly dangerous.

The problem is that because we’re overusing antibiotics, some of the dangerous bacteria they are used to fight are adapting so the medication is becoming less effective.

This has put patients are real risk as superbugs like MRSA, have become very difficult to treat because they’ve become resistant to several antibiotics.

The best way to slow down this growing resistance is to cut down on inappropriate use of the medication – doctors need to prescribe them less and patients need to use them properly.

Antibiotics don’t work on viruses causing coughs, colds and sore throats so don’t expect them to be doled out to you when you visit your GP. You’ll be prescribed them if you really need them.

If you are prescribed antibiotics, take your doses as and when you’re meant to and always complete your course of drugs even if you feel better after a few days.

NICE, the independent body that decides which treatments and drugs the NHS should use, has added its weight to the fight against the overuse of antibiotics.

It believes at least a quarter of all antibiotics prescribed in this country – that’s about 10 million – do not need to be given out and they’re asking the public and doctors to act now to save this vital drug.

By using antibiotics in the right way you will have helped to ensure that these life-saving medicines are more likely to work when we need them in the future.