100 Thais die each day from drug-resistant diseases

[webfact]

100 Thais die each day from drug-resistant diseases



BANGKOK: -- About 38,000 Thais die of drug-resistant diseases each year out of some 88,000 people infected with bacteria or an average of 100 deaths a day which is higher than worldwide average rate, according to Ms Niyada Kiatying-ansulee, manager of the drugs development and monitoring centre.

She attributed to the high mortality rate to the widespread practice of patients buying anti-biotic drugs from drug stores and overuse of anti-biotics by medical personnel and drug resistant at hospitals.

She suggested that there should be a central organisation to monitor and follow up the use of anti-biotics to reduce health hazards and to inform the public about how to use anti-biotics microbes properly.

Mr Prapon Angtrakul, deputy secretary-general of Food and Drugs Administration, meanwhile, said that the Ministry of Public Health had treated drug resistant diseases as a national agenda and set up a strategic plan to cope with the problem.

Dr Varunee Panpanich, representative of the Association of Infectious diseases in Children, said anti-biotics should not be used in children suffering from flu, stomach upset and fresh wounds.

Over-exposure to anti-biotics by children may result to diabetes, allergy or ashma, she said.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/100-thais-die-each-day-from-drug-resistant-diseases


-- Thai PBS 2015-11-25

[ezzra]

Drugs and medicine given to patients in Thailand is of old generation, low quality and often fake

due to lack or proper supervision, there are many rough medicine manufactures of home made style

back yard production of drugs with either no medicinal properties or very weak one,

I just to see the Thai government dispensing first grade anti viral and anti body to a 30 baht patient...

[laislica]

Visit a doctor or hospital and always get a prescription for a bag full of drugs.

Some of which may well conflict with each other.

It seems that many Thai patients expect lots of pills to fix any problem.....

[inwardglee]

It is so that anti-biotics are believed here to heal anything and so are taken for anything.

Example: At a reputable private Bangkok hospital, I was diagnosed with a fissure and prescribed anti-biotics. While the diagnosis was correct, the treatment totally wrong. A fissure cannot be treated by anti-biotics, it is not even an inflammation.

[jaltsc]

"She attributed to the high mortality rate to the widespread practice of patients buying anti-biotic drugs from drug stores and overuse of anti-biotics by medical personnel and drug resistant at hospitals."

No surprise here. It starts at the youngest of age. I've seen mothers giving their infants a spoonful of liquid antibiotics every time they cough. By the time they reach puberty (If they make it that far) they have developed resistance to just about every drug available.

When the medical profession lacks the knowledge of the effects of overuse of medications, how can one expect the patients to know any better? In most cases, it is probably better to let the illness run its course and allow the body's natural immunities to develop, since many medications appear to be useless at best and lethal at worst.

[TomJoad]

"About 38,000 Thais die of drug-resistant diseases each year out of some 88,000 people infected with bacteria.."

Thats a death rate from bacterial infections of almost 50%!!! Hum....

(())

[duckmandon]

Yes its called driving.

[PatOngo]

Yes its called driving.

Careful, next they will be feeding anti biotics to pick up trucks and motorcycles.........oh, and busses

[Ceruhe]

Ah what can you do...people take meds for everything nowadays, save the one that you get prescribed just entering a hospital now. Never saw why people would take meds for a headache or cough, if it seems very unusual from other times, yea see a doctor, otherwise it's just a natural thing that happens and goes away on its own. Not claiming a headache is a fancy thing to deal with, but I sure ain't taking meds against it, ever....may this post be held against me in the future, but so farI'm not plagued by them hehe

[Veeke]

"Over-exposure to anti-biotics by children may result to diabetes, allergy or ashma" (quoted from the news) Is it not a paradox that any modern medical practitioner fill patients with antibiotics - even the kids - and when the problem of overuse arise instruct that 'visit a doctor always' and 'get medicine only through prescription'?

[Bob12345]

Drugs and medicine given to patients in Thailand is of old generation, low quality and often fake

due to lack or proper supervision, there are many rough medicine manufactures of home made style

back yard production of drugs with either no medicinal properties or very weak one,

I just to see the Thai government dispensing first grade anti viral and anti body to a 30 baht patient...

Drugs and medicine given to patients in Thailand is of old generation ...

True, government hospitals where patients pay little themselves often distribute medicine of an older generation as this saves huge amounts of money. Generic medicine or an older generation often costs less than half the price while giving the same benefits to the patients and very similar side-effects.

... low quality ...

Incorrect, older generation drugs work very similarly but are of slightly lower quality which is often not even noticeable. Manufacturers upgrade their medicine all the time to be able to market it differently when their patent expires or to differentiate from competitors. Its like a pen manufacturer coming with a new model pen; both the old and new pen write similarly, only the new one feels a tiny bit better in your hand and costs double what the old one costs.

... and often fake ...

Incorrect. No idea where you got that idea from, but it is totally wrong. Maybe you bought some viagra on the streets in Pattaya that did not work, but medicine you get in a hospital is real.

... due to lack or proper supervision ...

Incorrect. Or do you think that Pfizer has 2 factories right next to each other. One producing good stuff for Europe/US, and the other one next door churning out shitty stuff in a rat infested environment because they will ship the things to Thailand? Even medicine produced in Thailand is being highly supervised, also by international agencies, although i can imagine the supervision being lower than in the US/EU.

... there are many rough medicine manufactures of home made style back yard production of drugs with either no medicinal properties or very weak one ...

No, there are not. There are some "underground labs" producing fake products for sell at Patpong and MBK, but those medicine do not find their way into hospitals.

... i just to see the Thai government dispensing first grade anti viral and anti body to a 30 baht patient ...

They do in case there are no alternatives. But as mentioned before it is normal practice around the world to go give close substitutes in case it leads to huge cost savings without negative side-effects.

[tominbkk]

I rarely take antibiotics. I think twice in the past 5 years. That and sanitizing your hands every five minutes is the sure road to getting sick.

[sawadee1947]

stupid reactions....just change the law! Antibiotics prescriptions ONLY as we are used in Western countries...

[Bob12345]

Ah what can you do...people take meds for everything nowadays, save the one that you get prescribed just entering a hospital now. Never saw why people would take meds for a headache or cough, if it seems very unusual from other times, yea see a doctor, otherwise it's just a natural thing that happens and goes away on its own. Not claiming a headache is a fancy thing to deal with, but I sure ain't taking meds against it, ever....may this post be held against me in the future, but so farI'm not plagued by them hehe

Agree with you there, Thais go to the hospital as soon as they cannot sleep or cough a couple of times and demand a package of medicine when walking out. Or they go to the pharmacy and just buy pills for everything for as soon as they even feel a headache coming up they start popping pills.

As a kid I almost never took medicine unless there was something serious. If I had a headache my mum would not give me medicine but she told me to stop watching tv and stop running around, if i couldn't sleep she told me to try harder, if i got a cold she made me chicken soup instead of a mix of medicine.

[phycokiller]

stupid reactions....just change the law! Antibiotics prescriptions ONLY as we are used in Western countries...

personally I like being able to buy antibiotics without a prescription, only used them about 4 times in my life but no way will I ever go to a Thai doctor

[geriatrickid]

The other concern should be the alleged overuse of antibiotics and other chemicals in the pork and poultry industries.

Ever wonder why Thailand discourages discussion of the issue?.

[worgeordie]

Doctors here always seem to over prescribe medicines,and they

do give Antibiotics for the common cold,which is why we are now

seeing an increase in resistant diseases,plus I think most Thais

buy all kinds of medicines,including Antibiotics from Pharmacy's,

and therefore not be getting the right diagnosis,no matter what

your complaint,you always seem to get at least 5 different tablets.

regards Worgeordie

[apetley]

Have to agree with the massive over prescribing of antibiotics here. A while ago I had a torn ligament, went to the chemist for some painkillers and they also wanted to sell me a course of antibiotics too.

[sawadee1947]

Drugs and medicine given to patients in Thailand is of old generation, low quality and often fake

due to lack or proper supervision, there are many rough medicine manufactures of home made style

back yard production of drugs with either no medicinal properties or very weak one,

I just to see the Thai government dispensing first grade anti viral and anti body to a 30 baht patient...

absolutele nonsense:

Medicine here in Thailand is produced under GMP guide lines and according international standards. Many factories belongs to the government and are supervised by doctors and pharmacists. The education for those professions are very similar to those we have in Western countries.

So please inform yourself before writing such B.S. laddie

[BKKdreaming]

absolutele nonsense:

Medicine here in Thailand is produced under GMP guide lines and according international standards

and sold out of a storefront with no AC and 100F temps to store the medicine !

[MiKT]

Drugs and medicine given to patients in Thailand is of old generation, low quality and often fake

due to lack or proper supervision, there are many rough medicine manufactures of home made style

back yard production of drugs with either no medicinal properties or very weak one,

I just to see the Thai government dispensing first grade anti viral and anti body to a 30 baht patient...

absolutele nonsense:

Medicine here in Thailand is produced under GMP guide lines and according international standards. Many factories belongs to the government and are supervised by doctors and pharmacists. The education for those professions are very similar to those we have in Western countries.

So please inform yourself before writing such B.S. laddie

Yes, much better here than most Asian countries, including Singapore, HK and Korea; for fake medicine from your doctor you can't do better than go to India. But I do agree that some doctors hand out too many antibiotics. But they do in Europe also. It is certainly up to the medical profession to do a better job of educating people to the correct use of antibiotics. The biggest problem is that you can buy too much medicine (of all types) without a prescription. Maybe the General can impose stricter controls on Pharmacies.

[johnnytuc]

I rarely take antibiotics. I think twice in the past 5 years. That and sanitizing your hands every five minutes is the sure road to getting sick.

Dont understand sanitizing your hands bit! Can you explain ?

[Guitar God]

My wife went to a beauty clinic for a pimple on her chin and they gave her a bag of amoxicillin. If you go to a pharmacy with a cold or flu, they routinely sell you antibiotics.

[mommysboy]

Many antibiotics are 20,30,40 years old. Quite simply, some bugs mutate. I can't see any point blaming patient or doctor. The drugs routinely sold over the counter were ruined ages ago on an industrial/agricultural level.

Doctors tend to prescribe antibiotics out here to patients with a heavy cold to protect against follow on bacterial infection. It works well providing the antibiotic is still effective, they usually are.

Yes, my wife was prescribed antibiotics when she went along to a beauty clinic. That is ridiculous. Not the least because amoxicillin is not standard treatment for acne anyway, it's doxy.

Antibiotics have saved millions of lives. Even on a minor level they save people having to endure the misery of a nasal infection for instance. By all means rough it out if you want, but some of us lead a tiring lifestyle what with work and kids. Don't moralise though.

One insidious form of resistance is to bacteria that naturally occurs in the body anyway, not necessarily to the invading bug being treated.

[sawadee1947]

absolutele nonsense:

Medicine here in Thailand is produced under GMP guide lines and according international standards

and sold out of a storefront with no AC and 100F temps to store the medicine !

the storage has nothing to do with the quality of producing medicine. Are you buying your medicine on the street? Why do you think there are pharmacies? Or do you buy your steak in your country at the tailor's or fish monger's?

Stupid quote

[attrayant]

That and sanitizing your hands every five minutes is the sure road to getting sick.

Dont understand sanitizing your hands bit! Can you explain ?

There are two main types of hand sanitizer. Alcohol based, and triclosan based. Alcohol-based sanitizers are okay to use, as bacteria cannot easily develop resistance to disinfectants such as alcohol, bleach and hydrogen peroxide. Triclosan, however, is a topical antibiotic to which staph bacteria is slowly but surely acquiring resistance. Staph bacteria lives on everyone's skin and is almost never a problem. But when it evolves to become resistant to triclosan and then makes its way under your skin, through a simple cut, you're looking at a nasty boil at best, and flesh eating disease at worst.

[laislica]

stupid reactions....just change the law! Antibiotics prescriptions ONLY as we are used in Western countries...

Perhaps education is an answer rather than more regulation?

Just sayin.

and Western countries? - well, except Spain!

A few years ago, the Spanish health authorities made a plea, much like this one in Thailand, to (mostly Mums) not to use antibiotics for things like the common cold.

Yesterday, I had a rare headache, not a throbbing sort, an occasional stabbing pain.

My missus suggested that I take a pill several times during the day and evening.

It persisted all day and then started getting better on it's own.

Nature provides antibiotics like turmeric, honey,coconut oil, cinnamin etc.

[sawadee1947]

stupid reactions....just change the law! Antibiotics prescriptions ONLY as we are used in Western countries...

Perhaps education is an answer rather than more regulation?

Just sayin.

and Western countries? - well, except Spain!

A few years ago, the Spanish health authorities made a plea, much like this one in Thailand, to (mostly Mums) not to use antibiotics for things like the common cold.

Yesterday, I had a rare headache, not a throbbing sort, an occasional stabbing pain.

My missus suggested that I take a pill several times during the day and evening.

It persisted all day and then started getting better on it's own.

Nature provides antibiotics like turmeric, honey,coconut oil, cinnamin etc.

es, and don't forget self healing power of your body !!

[laislica]

<Snip>

Antibiotics have saved millions of lives. Even on a minor level they save people having to endure the misery of a nasal infection for instance. By all means rough it out if you want, but some of us lead a tiring lifestyle what with work and kids.

<Snip>

It’s a culture thing.

When my first daughter was about four, and she felt unwell, she would ask Mum for – a drink with a pill in it!

My wife would give junior aspirin dissolved in orange juice and my daughter had learned this.

My wife and I had a talk about this and we stopped the practice to try not to build a culture that “a drink with a pill in it solves all ills”!

Earlier this year my wife had a severe throat and chest infection - got during visits to a dentist in Bangkok.

It took ages to fix, loads of Dr, pharmacy, clinic and hospital visits.

To cut a long story short.....

In the end, I asked her to stop all the pills and then she started to get better.

She passed it on to me and I used a nasal spray made with medical grade hydrogen peroxide.

I did not suffer anything like as much as she did.

[laislica]

stupid reactions....just change the law! Antibiotics prescriptions ONLY as we are used in Western countries...

Perhaps education is an answer rather than more regulation?

Just sayin.

and Western countries? - well, except Spain!

A few years ago, the Spanish health authorities made a plea, much like this one in Thailand, to (mostly Mums) not to use antibiotics for things like the common cold.

Yesterday, I had a rare headache, not a throbbing sort, an occasional stabbing pain.

My missus suggested that I take a pill several times during the day and evening.

It persisted all day and then started getting better on it's own.

Nature provides antibiotics like turmeric, honey,coconut oil, cinnamin etc.

es, and don't forget self healing power of your body !!

Nothing to do with the two glasses of wine then?

he he

(Could all those lovely antioxidants have helped? LOL)