The antibiotic resistance crisis which is threatening to render many diseases untreatable is being fuelled not just by overuse of the drugs, but a fragile supply chain that is at risk of collapse, experts have warned.
The authors of a white paper by the Dutch non-profit organisation Access to Medicine say a lack of access to specific antibiotics can lead to less appropriate drugs being prescribed for an infection, or even the use of lower doses – both of which increase the risk of antibiotic resistance – as well as delay for treatment. What’s more, they say, low stocks can lead to price hikes and mean poor quality medicines become rife.
“The right products need to reach the right patients at the right time,” said Dr Jayasree Iyer, executive director of the Access to Medicine Foundation and co-author of the report.
Among the shortages flagged is that of the common antibiotic benzathine penicillin G, which was found by to be unavailable in 39 countries in 2015, including India, Australia and the US, and is the only drug that can prevent and treat the transmission of syphilis from mother to child.
The shortage, the report notes, coincided with the growing rise of syphilis in Brazil that has resulted in an uptick in babies born with congenital illnesses.
