National Contest for Proper Use of Antibiotics and Antimicrobial Resistance Held at ZJU

“Do you know antibiotics are available on prescription?”

“Do you know the culprit of bacteria’s resistance to drug?”

Antibiotics are both “familiar” and “unfamiliar” to the general public. In China, virtually every household will prepare some antibiotics, but their proper use is far from well-understood. On October 20, the 1st National Contest for Proper Use of Antibiotics and Antimicrobial Resistance took place on Zijingang Campus at Zhejiang University. A total of 30 teams from 17 institutions of higher learning across the country made it through to the final and elaborated on the proper use of antibiotics and the harm of drug resistance in their unique way.

Participants employed a wide spectrum of ways, such as posters, cartoons, electronic albums, videos, sand paintings and microfilms, to publicize the crippling effects of antibiotic abuse, the principle of drug resistance and the proper use of antibiotics. The team led by Yao Hao from Fudan University won the championship with a 50,000 yuan bonus.

These works unfolded an extremely stunning picture about antibiotics. Approximately 700,000 people die from drug-resistance bacterial infection all over the world every year; the use of antibiotics in China alone added up to 162,000 tons in 2013; the annual number of IV drips hits roughly 10.4 billion, appreciably higher than the global average; the average annual number of antibiotics sold in China amount to 138 grams, 10 times as large as that in the United States; the drug-resistance of MRSA, which is notoriously known as a super bacterium made in China, is 45% higher than that in American and European countries. The past years has witnessed the far greater speed at which antibiotics has developed drug-resistance. British economist Jim O’Neil said in his study that “Drug resistant infections will kill an extra 10 million people a year worldwide―more than currently die from cancer―by 2050 unless action is take.”

While enumerating the harmful impacts of antibiotic abuse, participants also informed the audience of the proper use of antibiotics. Buzzwords in the contest included “no prevention”, “no hoarding”, “no excessive use”, “following the doctor’s advice” and “taking drugs in accordance with different therapies”.