Beyond the health system, the economic costs of antibiotic resistance are formidable – in China, one prediction estimates the loss of up to a million lives a year by 2050 – and if left unchecked, antibiotic resistance could wipe out up to 3.5% of global GDP by 2050.
In China, use of antibiotics is very high: over the past decade, more than half of outpatients in China have been prescribed antibiotics – far above the level recommended by WHO (less than 30%).
A new survey commissioned by the WHO for World Antibiotic Awareness Week also shows that public awareness in China about antibiotics and their use is low:
- 61% of survey respondents in China thought antibiotics were effective against colds and flu, despite the fact that antibiotics have no impact on viruses;
- 53% of survey respondents in China thought it was okay to stop once taking antibiotics once they felt better, rather than completing the prescribed course of treatment; and
- 35% of survey respondents in China thought antibiotics were effective against headaches, which is not the case.
