IMPHAL April 7: The health ministry has almost finalized drafting of a new schedule called HX under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act which will prevent misuse of drugs numbering about 70 including antibiotics. The drugs falling in schedule HX will require doctors and chemists retaining prescriptions which will check the abuse of drugs, especially antibiotics.
Doctors will have to give two prescriptions to every patient, one copy which will have to be kept for a period of two years by the chemists while the other one will be audited by the Drug Control General of India (DCGI) whose prime agenda is judicious and controlled use of antibiotics. Violations will be punished with a fine of Rs. 20000 or upto 2 years imprisonment.
Dr. Kh. Ratankumar Singh, General Secretary, Manipur Chemists and Druggists Association (MCDA) in a press release stated that antibiotics are the substances that kill or cease the growth of micro-organisms bacteria which cause harmful diseases. In the bacteria infections, antibiotics are normally prescribed by the doctors to kill the bacteria. In the UK and other developed countries, antibiotics are normally prescribed to patients after various anti-body screening tests based on sensitivity and resistance profile, which differs for every individual. In India including Manipur, doctors prescribe powerful antibiotics for common ailments and also patients do self medication without doctor`™s advice.
An over or wrong use can lead to lasting drug resistance in patients, which would in turn, make them more susceptible to infections. Antibiotics can cause serious side effects. Under allergic conditions a person can develop an anaphylactic reaction, go into shock and die. And since the antibiotic that was meant to be the last resort has already been prescribed as the first line of treatment, there are no other options of treatment left, he further stated.
The press release further stated that India`™s lack of an antibiotic policy came to light in August last year when the `LANCET INFECTIOUS DISEASE`™ journal published a report that linked a drug-resistant superbug to India. The time has now come to curb irrational use of antibiotics.
